Clint is Dead
by Barton-Lover2
Summary: With Civil War over, everyone is paranoid and working to a better tomorrow. Years pass in blissful silence until Tony finds Clint with his family and many of the other 'illegal' ex-heroes. Apparently, Asgard was destroyed and Thor is coming to Earth with the remaining Asgardians and Bruce in tow. But something is wrong with Clint and apparently only Loki can help fix it? Seriously?
1. The Letter

-CHAPTER 1: The Letter-

When Laura Barton decided to get the mail that day, she expected nothing strange to happen to her. And while getting the mail was indeed normal, sorting through it was another matter. To keep the little (but apparently still growing) family a secret from the world, the house was listed underneath Laura's maiden name, Laura Rudell. That meant all the mail was typically for her or the Rudell family. So needless to say, it was a huge shock to suddenly see a simple normal looking letter addressed to one Clint Barton. Laura's shock was so great that she nearly dropped the letter and the rest of the mail where she stood. Instead though, she was able to bring it inside her home. While still focused on the one letter, she was able to put the rest down to finish sorting later and pick up a phone to dial a number she had only called a handful of times before. It rang once.

"What's wrong?" was the first thing Laura heard. The voice was filled with worry and fear. Laura sagged in relief at hearing this voice. Last she knew, she wasn't supposed to try and contact him but it had been a gut reaction to call. To have him answer right away and to seemingly not care for his own safety. It was a big deal for her.

"Uh, I'm not entirely sure," she admitted, suddenly feeling terribly silly for calling over a letter. But she had been warned. No one knew they lived there and anyone who did, didn't know about Clint Barton. To the nearby town, Laura was a single mother with three children and a male friend who sometimes dropped by to help out. If anything about that ever changed, she was to tell him, immediately.

"What's going on?" the voice pressed knowing there had to be a reason for Laura to call this number and not their normal number even if he had asked her not too.

"A… A letter came to the house today," Laura stated before pacing the room, placing the letter on the table nearby as she did some. Now she sounded really foolish. There was a half laugh of relief from the other end of the line and Laura couldn't help but smile as well. Honestly she was seriously debating just telling him it was mistake and hang up. But there was just something. She needed to tell him what was going on.

"That typically happens with mail."

"Addressed to you," Laura retorted, her original fear slowly creeping back. A long pause followed that statement. One in which Laura began to fear that the phone had been disconnected. "Clint?"

"I'll be there soon," the archer replied in what Cooper and Lila loved to call his 'mission voice'. They heard it often enough whenever S.H.I.E.L.D or now the Avengers tended to interrupt his 'vacation' time. Laura breathed a sigh of relief. So she hadn't messed up in calling him.

"Should I do anything?"

"Pack… Just in case," Clint warned, his voice still in mission mode. Laura nodded even though she knew Clint couldn't see her. It wasn't the first time the archer had done this and she was sure it also wouldn't be the last. But something about this time made it seem almost more permanent. "I'm coming."

"Kay," Laura answered as she shifted further into the kitchen to start packing a large bag with food for the kids and the animals that would come. They had long ago packed 'go-bags' that Laura kept updated with correct size clothing and essentials for their age groups. As she continued to pack non-perishables and baby food, Cooper entered the room with Arrow hot on his heels. But once he entered the room, Arrow froze, knowing that something was worrying Master's Mate. He glanced over the situation to determine if he needed to move Little Big Master from the room.

"Hey," the boy greeted before pausing at the sight of his mother on the phone with someone and packing up the food in the kitchen. His eyes hardened. While the family never actually had to leave the farmhouse, Clint would randomly call and ask Laura to test the family's preparedness in case of an actual crisis. Thankfully Arrow figured that Little Big Master was fine to stay but something big was going on. He'd need to wait for direction. Slowly, he moved to his food and water bowl out of Laura's way and sat down, waiting for an order. "Dad?"

"Something like that," Laura told him as she heard Clint telling someone that he was stealing a jet. A female voice began asking him why and Laura could tell the female was suspicious. Laura could only assume it was Natasha. She frowned as Clint denied the woman the ability to come with him before she pulled the phone slightly away from her ear to focus on her eldest. "Go pack baby, and tell the others."

"Yup," Cooper said, nodding in understanding of the situation. Laura smiled lightly at him even as he spun out of the room and rushed off to start what she had ordered. They had this down. Arrow huffed and moved a foot to follow but decided that he didn't need to. His attention focused on Laura once again.

"You guys know what to do, right?" Clint asked, coming back to the phone stronger. Laura shifted it back into place as she chuckled lightly.

"We'll be fine. The go-bags were last updated a week ago and Pietro has packed some things up as well," Laura soothed, knowing the archer was more worried about the speedster being ready than his family. It wasn't that Clint wasn't worried about his family just that... The Barton Family had had years of practice to get this type of thing down and Pietro was new to the household. He hadn't really had time to learn or deal with the same things that the rest had. In fact, this would technically be Pietro's second time ever preparing to leave the Barton House and the first time Clint had basically stood over him.

"Mrs. Laura," Pietro's voice called, breaking Laura's train of thought. She huffed a laugh, _speak of the devil_. Slowly, she turned to face the boy. His silver hair looked brighter in the sunlight shining in from the kitchen window and his silvery blue eyes sparkled even though he looked meek and worried. "I, uh, got the go-packs in the camper and I packed most of Nate's room. Lila is still trying to decide which stuffed animals to take and Cooper is packing up some books... Can I help here?"

"Yes, thank you," Laura replied, smiling brighter at the boy to try and make him feel better. Pietro smirked back and shifted his feet in nervous energy. The boy was still trying to get used to having a mother figure around and she was trying to get used to an enhanced teen hanging around. Pietro nodded. "Grab the baby's things and bring them out to the camper. Then get Arrow's bowls and food as well."

Pietro nodded and in a blur, the mostly filled bag Laura had been working on was suddenly full and then vanished from sight. Arrow huffed in annoyance as he tried to figure out where to sit and wait now that his bowls suddenly went missing. Mostly he just moved back a bit and still waited for an order. Laura chucked and started to just place items on the table instead of worrying about putting them in a bag. The camper that Pietro was packing now was really an A class RV with multiple slid-outs, a bunk house to hold all the kids and a washer and dryer hidden in the main bedroom. It had been uniquely designed for the family and can actually hold over 15 people. To keep it as secret as the house, Fury had actually bought it under one of his aliases and no one knew the Barton's actually had it. It's deed had been handed over with an easy name change and Fury had made the registration in a long unused alias for Clint.

Normally the RV sat hidden in the barn but since the Sokovia Accords started getting mentioned, Laura made sure it was ready for not only being driven but also ready for long term use. She got it inspected, a full check-up for an outrageous price, and started getting it more comfortable for the family to live in long term. Many items were prepacked in it like water, canned food, and even more clothing for the family. Clint also stocked it up with hidden weapons that everyone but Lila and Nate had been trained to use. Pietro had just started learning how to use some of the weapons but was a quick enough learner that Laura and Clint trusted him with at least a simple handgun.

"Done," Pietro announced. Laura paused and looked over, the phone slipping down her shoulder a bit as she did so. "And everything is put away in as many proper places as I could find."

Laura blinked rapidly in surprise. She hadn't expected Pietro to do that as well. Slowly she nodded and looked about the room. The RV was prepacked with cooking utensils and even dinnerware so they didn't need any of that. In fact, what would have taken Laura and the Barton kids the rest of the day to do, Pietro had done in thirty minutes or so. "Wow... Uh... Help Cooper and Lila?" she suggested as the next option for the speedster.

"They said they were all set. How bout I pack some movies?" Pietro countered as he had already checked on the kids and grabbed their full boxes. Laura frowned, unsure what exactly to do now. Clint and her had never been able to pack this fast and so had never discussed the idea before. It had always taken too long to get everything else set. Slowly, nearing cautiously, Laura nodded.

"Did he say movies?" Clint wondered, having been half paying attention to the noise of Laura packing up everything to go. Even as he had prepared a jet to leave.

"Yeah. We're... We're almost ready here," Laura told him in a disbelieving tone as she went to check on her children upstairs. Arrow whimpered for a moment before realizing that most of Master's Mate's anxiety was dwindling. Figuring things were fine, he rushed off to find a child to play with. Nate had been napping before she went to check the mail and she assumed he might have woken when Pietro blitzed through but the boy was still napping away, a stuffed yellow dog curled under one arm and the little pig, Pua, from the upcoming movie _Moana,_ under the other _._ Relief flooded through the woman before she looked around. Other than the furniture and the toys in his crib, the room looked empty. Some of the drawers were still partly open and completely empty and the closet doors were wide opened showing empty shelves and racks. Laura smiled at the thoroughness of the speedster before moving on. Lila had a suitcase filled with toys, stuffed animals and some books. It was so disorganized that it didn't look like it'd be able to shut. Arrow was sitting beside the girl, looking highly bored. "Need any help?"

"Nope, just trying to decide if Mr. Fluffbottom or Sassypants should come with us," Lila retorted as if this was the biggest life decision in her life. Laura chuckled. For a girl her age, this probably was the toughest decision she'd have to face. And considering their lifestyle, Laura was glad that it might be.

"I'll be home in about ten minutes," Clint informed over the phone, keeping his wife partially updated. Laura hummed at his voice before suddenly the connection died. She frowned at that but assumed it had to do with the fact that he was now flying and might not always have perfect service.

"Why not take both?" Laura suggested, knowing it was against all their packing procedures. But then again, they had never nearly been this done before Clint returned home. Lila snapped her head around to look at her mother in surprise.

"Can I?" she innocently inquired. Laura nodded, making the girl whoop for joy as she picked up two stuffies. One was a little bunny that Coulson had gotten the girl for her third birthday and the other was a long haired cat that Natasha had gotten as an apology for Clint getting injured on a mission. Not that Lila understood that part of the gift just that Auntie Nat had come to visit with the cat and her daddy wouldn't be home for a few weeks.

"Daddy will be here soon," Laura informed before moving onto Cooper's room. Cooper was a bit more organized than Lila. He had books packed in a pre-approved sized box and the rest sorted into two stacks on either side of him. Most of the toys had already been messily tossed into a box down the hall. Laura smiled at the sight. "Having trouble?"

"Kinda. I don't wanna take too many," Cooper said even as Pietro suddenly appeared behind Laura.

"Movies packed. Hey Coop, this good to go?" the speedster asked. Cooper nodded, not even looking at the box that Pietro pointed too. Laura felt the breeze of Pietro taking back off before her eyes noted that the box of toys was gone.

"I think we have the room for one of those stacks," Laura suggested, knowing Cooper had set the stacks as one being 'want more' and the other as 'would like to bring'. The ones already packed were either his favorite or never read. Cooper looked up at her in surprise.

"Really?" He questioned. Laura nodded and moved into the room.

"Honey, we've always had the space for more items. Limiting down before was about the time needed to pack everything," she explained. Cooper's eye widened as Pietro blasted into the room. He focused on the speedster for a second before looking back at Laura.

"Because of Pietro, we can pack more?" the boy called in amazement. Laura nodded not knowing that Pietro was now standing in the doorway again.

"Um, is that a good thing?" the teen wondered. Laura chuckled, taking his sudden appearance in stride. After living with him now for a few months, she had gotten used to his speed. It was still a challenge to sometimes get used to like asking him to do chores and having them done seconds later (unbelievable for any other kid) but they worked through it all.

"Yes Pietro, a very good thing. Thank you," she told him as she turned to look at the boy. Pietro blushed lightly before nodding and rushing off to grab a few more things.

Knowing that Pietro was allowing for more things to get packed, Lila and Cooper began grabbing more and more items to bring out to the RV. Pietro would come in, collect a box or bag and head out to the RV, unpack it wherever needed and then run back to grab another. Even Laura started grabbing some things to pack like more clothes for her and Clint and even some more weapons and ammo as a just in case. Arrow patiently waited for orders but soon understood everyone was packing so he also joined in and started collecting various dog toys, bones and other such things he had hidden throughout the house to bring to the RV.

Nearly seven minutes passed before Pietro finally announced that the RV had basically no more room to pack anything else. It had more than enough items to cover what the family needed. Nate had finally woken from his nap and so Laura was feeding him on the porch, waiting for Clint's Quinjet to finally arrive. Pietro, Cooper and Lila all worked to neatly sort all the items in the camper to see if there was more room for one more movie, or book, or toy. Arrow was off digging something up in the yard and whatever it was, he then brought to the RV before he rushed off to dig up another thing. Laura hadn't been this relaxed during an evacuation since before Cooper was born.

The roar of a jet engine had Laura looking up from Nate's last spoonful of lunch. Pietro suddenly appeared by the woman as Cooper (armed with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back) and Lila appeared at the barn door. Arrow even stopping in his digging for a moment. Everyone waited, praying that Clint was the one coming and not someone else, as the jet spun around on to land with it's rear facing the house. There was a moment of jerkiness before it fully landed and moments after the loading bay area opened. Clint was already walking down the ramp and Laura couldn't help but notice the rather large and fresh red hand print on his cheek. Still no one moved, waiting to see how Clint would call this. Did they need to leave now or could it wait for a tearful greeting? They were all shocked when someone else appeared. Behind the archer came a tearfully happy and angry girl. Red sparks appeared at her finger tips but got no further.

"Wanda?" Pietro breathed, knowing that Clint hadn't wanted him to see her before. By the time Clint and Pietro had realized that the teen was here to stay in this reality, Wanda had seemingly gotten over the loss of her brother. And whenever Clint tried to bring up the subject of Pietro, Wanda either shut him down or someone bothered them. So right now was the first moment Wanda knew that Pietro existed. Distantly, Pietro wondered if Clint had informed her of their one issue. He wasn't actually her brother. While he may look, sound, and even partially act like her brother, Pietro was from a different reality. Not even their genes matched.

"Pietro?" Wanda cried before running off the jet to get to her 'brother' faster. Clint tried to grab her in an attempt to stop her and explain fully but she slipped right on past with a quick blast of red power. Pietro stayed frozen, unsure what to do. This girl had lost her brother. Lost the last part of her family and now here he was, having just lost his own sister to an alternate reality. While it seemed clear that the duo should just accept each other at the lost sibling they needed, Pietro couldn't do it. And he didn't realize such fact until she was already at the steps. Pietro couldn't fake being her brother, even for a minute. This Wanda needed to know. He side stepped her hug and she froze, stunned that he'd do something like that. "Pietro?"

"I'm... I'm sorry," the speedster mumbled, seeing the hurt and rejection in her eyes. He couldn't handle it. Clint would have to explain. He ran as fast as he could to Cooper and Lila, who stayed at the barn door as a just in case. Arrow must have sensed something was wrong with Pietro as he finally abandoned his hole to go sit by the teen. By that time, Clint had made it to the stairs after Wanda and stood there, watching.

"Wanda, I'm sorry," Clint started to say. Wanda spun and slapped the archer again before he could say anything more. Clint allowed the hit and recoiled before looking back at her to see tears streaming down her face.

"WHY!?" she shouted at him. Clint winced. Maybe he should have said something on the flight over. But he had been so worried about his own family that the thought hadn't accord to him.

"He's not Pietro," Clint muttered. Laura grabbed Nate then and nodded a hello to Clint even though her eyes showed that she was disappointed in how he handled this situation. Slowly and quietly, she slipped past the two Avengers and headed to the barn. Pietro already shuffling Cooper and Lila out of view. Arrow took a forlorn look out at his hole and whatever treasure was buried there before shaking his head and following after the family.

"What?" Wanda hissed, unsure how to feel about that statement. Clint sighed and waved a hand to the seats on the porch. Slowly they both moved and sat down. Wanda could tell that she would need this and Clint just needed something to ground him.

"Remember how I mentioned an alternate reality?" he asked, not sure how else to start. It had been a while since anyone talked about it. Most of the Avengers thought Clint had gone nuts. Himself included for a while. Sometimes Steve had a distant memory of the events but Bucky had started leaving more clues as to where he was. Clint wanted to assume it was cause Bucky remembered just like he and Pietro did but… There was no chance to ask the man during everything that happened. "This Pietro, he... He came from there."

"What?" she said again, her voice softer this time. Clint sighed and looked out to see Laura driving the fully ready RV out of the barn with Pietro's and Cooper's help. Lila was keeping Arrow distracted a safe distance away.

"When I used the Reality Stone to fix the world, somehow Pietro came through. He isn't the same Pietro who died in Sokovia. In fact, he's not even related to you," Clint explained. Wanda frowned and before she could even ask, Clint groaned. "We did a blood test. You and he have no genetic relations. Not even a single percentage, which Tony found strange but I refused to let them do anymore tests."

"But..." Wanda started to say. Clint nodded, he had this same talk with Pietro right after the tests completed and he had seen a picture of his once twin. Pietro was tougher though cause the teen kept running off in favor of hiding himself rather than listening to anymore of what Clint had to say..

"Trust me Wanda, this is not the Pietro you knew," Clint repeated. "He's had different experiences from you. Knows different things and has a sister, who is not you. It'd be wrong of either of you to expect the other to be the one they want."

"Clint," Wanda finally sobbed. Clint pulled the girl into a hug, knowing that was the issue now.

"I know. It's okay. He's not your brother, but he could always be a friend," the archer suggested. If anything that made Wanda cry harder. Clint sighed. _Oh, escaping the law now will be sooo much fun._

* * *

 **HAHA! New story! YAY! Can't wait for everyone to try it out. As warned in _After Death Comes a Knocking_ , this is a slow build story. At least 5 chapters meant as just background setting up the correct scenes. Last through those and we all should be good to go. Hopefully you will find this story just as interesting as my previous ones or maybe even better.**

 **In other news, my boys Clint and Darius are doing really well. Their behavior is mostly the same but I've changed some things in my life that has made it easier for me to not be bothered by it. The biggest issue I have with them is their inability to share toys with each other (Clint) and their inability to express their emotions without abusing someone (Darius). Thankfully I have Early Intervention which should help me with the proper techniques to get them to stop roughly soon.**

 **In more news, I have sent out an original book to be edited and hoping that once it is back in my hands I'll be able have it published later this year. Who knows though. I will keep everyone posted on it with each chapter of every story I put up. Other than that, I hope everyone enjoyed and can't wait to hear your feedback!**


	2. Leaving the Farm

-CHAPTER 2: Leaving the Farm-

Wanda eventually calmed down and was able to finish helping Laura and the kids get the RV out of the barn and onto the Quinjet. Pietro rushed to Clint's side, avoiding Wanda for both their sakes. Right now was not a good time to try and talk over everything. While Clint had warned Pietro about Wanda in this reality, actually seeing her surprised him more than anything and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. Arrow stuck by the teen's side, knowing that of anyone in the family that Silver Boy needed him.

Clint sighed and headed into the house, leaving Pietro and Arrow on the porch watching the rest of the family. The archer quickly check over everything that the family had done. He wanted to make sure everything was packed and grab even more weapons and ammo. Never hurt to have more as he had learned on many missions. But as he passed by the kitchen, he spotted a lone envelope still sitting on the table. The thing that started this all. Slowly, he headed over to stare at it.

"The RV is loaded," Laura called. Clint jumped up in surprise at the sound of her voice. He hadn't expected anyone to suddenly show up in the house after him. His silvery blue eyes turned to focus on his wife as Arrow suddenly made an appearance and rubbed his nose against Clint's hand. Laura took one look over the situation before understanding. "We're ready when you are."

"How stupid will we feel if this is just a fucking letter from Tony?" Clint joked not knowing that Laura hadn't listened to him. After coming back from the alternate reality, Clint asked her to not follow the news as the sounds of the Sokovia Accords got louder and louder. But no matter how much Clint asked her not too, Laura couldn't help but focus on the news. She knew everything about the Accords and that Clint had joined Captain America and that the Avengers were divided by the rules. All she could hope was that it would all be over soon and that this wasn't the end of the Avengers.

"Should I stay?" Laura wondered, glancing down at the letter that Clint was so worried about opening. Clint sighed and shook his head. It would be best if he did it alone in case there was something wrong with it. There were so many ways to kill someone with a letter. Laura nodded and patted Clint's arm. As she moved to leave, she also patted her leg hard enough to make a noise. Arrow perked up and easily followed after her considering normally that noise came with a treat.

Once he was sure they were well and truly gone, Clint focused on the letter again. He wanted to open it and find out who found out about his family but at the same time... The thought of opening the letter terrified him. What if it was just Tony screwing with him? Or the government saying that they knew where he was and would make his life even more difficult? Worse, what if it was any number of people who had vendettas against him? Or even any of S.H.I.E.L.D's old enemies that finally learned about who he really was? After another minute or so of debating, Clint finally moved to open it.

The second Clint's fingers neared the letter, a small spark, almost like static shock, flew from the paper and into Clint's hand. For a moment, Clint felt the energy race up his arm and disperse into his chest. There was a second of wrongness where Clint knew something bad was going to happen but then it vanished. Clint groaned deeply and he closed his eyes, wanting to feel better. A few minutes passed before finally he felt somewhat normal. But deep inside the sense of wrongness was very slowly starting to grow.

Shaking his head, Clint focused again on the letter. Hopefully that spark was the only thing that the letter hid. Cautiously now, Clint grabbed the letter and started to open it. Nothing abnormal happened as he pulled the letter itself from the envelope. Glancing inside the now empty envelope to make sure it was completely empty, Clint noted there wasn't even anything like a powder left. Maybe this wasn't meant to kill him. Sighing, he placed the envelope down and focused on the letter. It looked like just a simple piece of paper folded over twice to create three separate areas. Figuring there may actually be nothing hidden in the letter, he unfolded it and looked at the small splatter of words on the page.

 _Clint Barton,_

 _Welcome to my domain. We shall see each other soon._

Clint frowned deeply at the words and turned the paper over to see if there was anything on the back. Nothing was there. Just that simple statement that he had already read. _What the fuck was this?_ Clint couldn't help but wonder. Angry at the useless letter, Clint tossed it aside, completely missing it suddenly burst into flame and burn up seconds before landing in the trash.

"Fuck me," Clint hissed, scratching at his chest absently before taking one last look around the kitchen. Now that Steve had broken Clint and the others out of jail, Clint needed to keep on the move. He was a wanted criminal. Tony knows where he lives and had mentioned his family while in jail, Clint wouldn't put it past him to already be on the way here to get them. Hell, Natasha knows as well. Someone will come here soon. Why he hadn't thought of moving his family before, he didn't know. But now, they needed to get out of here.

Pissed at himself for lack of foresight and now having to abandon his home, Clint stormed out of the house and headed for the Quinjet waiting to be piloted back to Wakanda. As Clint got outside, he focused on the rear of the jet. Cooper and Lila were playing there with Arrow and Nate waiting in his stroller nearby. They looked up and right away Cooper could notice his father's angered attitude. Not wanting to get yelled at, the boy rushed the younger kids and rambunctious pup into the RV to prepare for the flight. Their rushing by had Pietro and Wanda look up from their opposing seats in the back of the jet. They also took one look at Clint and could tell they should leave him be.

Wanda could sense something strange about Clint. Not just his anger. Something was different about him since going inside the house. Slowly she went to get to her feet to talk to Clint but a blur came and shoved her back down. Looking over she noticed Pietro was now sitting beside her. He shook his head even as Clint stormed past, a dark cloud seemingly passing by as well. Wanda shivered and Pietro put a soothing hand on her shoulder.

Laura shifted from her seat in the co-pilot's seat. She could tell something had changed. One glance at Clint and she knew. Something in the letter had rattled him. Clint quickly dropped into the pilot's seat and started working on the beginning procedures to get the jet in the air. For a while, Laura just stared at her husband, waiting for a good time to say something but nothing came. Until Clint harshly pressed a button to raise the bay doors and energy crackled. Pietro had mentioned to Laura that his sister and Doctor Strange from the other reality mentioned Clint having magic but no one could talk to him about it, there and even now here.

"You okay?" Laura finally asked, knowing the answer but needing some way to start the conversation. Clint shook his head but Laura could tell the truth. He was far from okay. In fact, on a scale from Ultron to Loki, Clint was close to them working together with him as the only one to stop them.

"Yes," the archer growled as if saying it aloud would make him feel better. Snapping, Clint slammed a hand on one of the buttons and with a small energy crackle, the plastic covering snapped. Laura grabbed Clint's hand and held it for a moment. In that same moment, Clint hissed and went to attack the person grabbing him before realizing who it was and what was happening. Slowly, he let out a deep breath to try and calm himself down. A minute or so later, he looked to his wife. "No. I'm not fine."

"What's wrong?" she muttered, now rubbing the hand she still held. Clint gave off a half growl, half groan at the movement and tried to pull his hand away but Laura held tight.

"Let me get this in the air and on autopilot," Clint moaned, not wanting to get into anything right then. He could tell something was wrong with him. Something he couldn't fully place but they were busy right now. Laura nodded, understanding the need to get away before someone else got there. She released him finally and Clint made quick work of getting the jet up and running. The second the jet was on autopilot, Clint turned to Laura. "We need to bring the jet back to T'Challa. Hopefully he can spare us a way out of Africa otherwise we're in for some tough driving..."

"Clint," Laura started but the archer plowed over her.

"We can't go back to the States. Tony would expect me there and would find me in a heartbeat. I don't wanna stay in Africa. Can't think of a place there that doesn't hold some sort of grudge with me, or S.H.I.E.L.D..."

"Clint…"

"Russia is Nat's home. She'd find me faster than I can even think of a place to hide. Islands just suck, get trapped too easy, so that takes out a lot of options. Iraq and Iran don't seem to like Americans. Oh! France is nice this time of year and I think Rio is holding the Olympics in August. Maybe we can hide down there for a bit."

"Clint!" Laura snapped and the archer finally stopped his tirade of plans. Slowly, he focused on her. All she did was tilt her head and raise an eyebrow. He let out a loud groan.

"Please, don't," he begged.

"Clint, you need to talk about it," Laura pressed, knowing that this was a sensitive issue and she could easily ruin everything if she pressed too hard. Clint shook his head, the anger rapidly returning.

"Laura! I fought my friends. People I could easily call my family. I was in jail and Tony... TONY threatened you..." Clint cried, trying to get her to understand what was happening to him even though he couldn't understand it himself. Right now he was on edge. So on edge that he just wanted to run around like Pietro for the rest of the day. Sighing deeply, Clint tried hard to center himself again, using the mental training that Wanda from the other reality had given him. Laura calmly grabbed his hands again and everything slowly soothed away. Clint moaned. "God, sometimes I swear you have some sort of magic over me."

"I just know you well," Laura whispered as her hands moved up his own. Clint's sense of unease leaked away until it was like a flame milliseconds from going out.

"Laura, this is gonna get worse long before it gets better," Clint warned. She nodded having assumed as much when she learned of what had been going on.

"Start by telling me what happened," she suggested. Clint sighed deeply again.

"The Accords... Have you-" Clint trailed off, remembering he left the large packet Tony had sent him with Laura. Laura nodded, having read them soon after Clint left to go help Steve with his issue. "It's dangerous. Imagine if I had to sign it. All my code names, aliases, everything would have to be listed. I would never be legally able to hide you guys anymore. And... There was even some talk about about making the list public."

"Did you have to sign it? I thought only those with powers had too," Laura muttered, trying hard to remember the specific wording of the new law. Clint snorted and shook his head, leaning further back into his seat.

"And there in lies one of the loopholes. 'Powers beyond the average.' My sight and inexplicable aim is counted as an ability. Tony's genius and of course armor. Natasha's flexibility and her spy skills. Anything not deemed normal. And now, with all those, what are they? Inhumans? God, anyone could get caught up on the wrong side of the law," Clint mumbled, thinking back on the people he had seen in the Raft during his limited time down there. Laura frowned having not thought of those implications. She doubted Tony did as well. Given the wrong motivation, the Accords could get very dangerous and potentially deadly.

"That... That's wrong," she finally agreed. Clint nodded and glanced over at her.

"Mrs. Knight down the road... She was locked up. Someone said she had some power over plants cause she's won First Place in the Fall Fair the past five years. She won't sign the Accords cause she knows she isn't anything special," Clint explained. Laura grimaced. Mrs. Knight was a lovely little old woman that generously would offer Laura her overstock of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. There was nothing special about her other than her extreme kindness to the Barton/Rudell family. Clint shook his head. "So many people would easily get caught up in this thing. And how many will sign even knowing they are normal just so they won't get locked up? Who honestly tells them what normal or above average is?"

"My god," Laura whispered, imagining the world that Clint could see coming. Having been semi-retired at the time, Clint could easily see what the others could not. Each one had feared for their own personal issue. But Clint could see how this not only affected them but everyone in the world. While it seemed good, the Accords could and will easily turn against them.

"And imagine if that list goes public like they want? Anyone can access it. Thaddeus Ross would easily find Bruce, if he had stayed... God, imagine the people after me! Knowing about all of you," Clint groaned, ripping his hands from Laura and beginning to rub his face. Laura patiently waited. "That's why I joined Cap's side. That's why I refused to sign the Accords when they first came to me. We can't give in."

"Will Tony?" Laura wondered. Clint shrugged.

"He thinks it's right. In the here and now, it's fine but... I don't think he's looked at the big picture. The long run of these Accords and forcing everyone to report in. He's just worried about the here and now..." Clint repeated, thinking on when Tony came to talk to Sam about Steve. While Clint had called the man a 'futurist', Tony seemed to be doing anything but looking to the future for the superheroes. Laura nodded.

"And that... Spider-man?"

"God, he's younger than Wanda and... Pietro. A fucking high schooler. If he signs or already signed the Accords... A week long fling could be in trouble with that kid's enemies. Hell, even just his school could get attacked," Clint continued. Laura winced, imagining a huge high school suddenly under attack and Spider-man having to come out. But what if he wasn't in the school that day? What if he was home sick? Or on a family vacation?

"Can you warn Tony?" Laura inquired. Clint shook his head.

"He's in too deep and it's far too late. There is no stopping the Accords now," Clint muttered, remembering how Everett Ross mentioned to him that Tony was skating on thin ice. Tony was basically one disobedient statement away from joining Clint in the Raft. Slowly, the archer moved to stand and head into the back but Laura grabbed his hands again and pulled him back into his seat. He looked up at her and noticed she still looked worried and concerned.

"That's not everything," she pressed knowing she was skirting a fine line. Clint sighed, focusing deeply on his wife. Wanda and Pietro then appeared near the back of the cock pit. They had been talking a bit during the beginning of the flight but now... Both could tell that there was something going on. And the only one who might know, was Clint.

"Honestly, I just... Feel on edge. Something is coming. Something big and I don't know if we can come back together before it gets here," Clint mentioned. Laura shuddered, fearing now the same thing. Wanda and Pietro shared a look.

"We'll get back together. The Avengers will always save the day," Wanda called. Clint and Laura jerked up in surprise. They turned to see the twins (even though not related, Clint couldn't help but think of them as the Twins) staring at them. Pietro at least looked slightly sheepish and embarrassed at having been caught listening in but Clint had gotten used to the teen spying on him. Wanda though, she still seemed mad and hurt. Her chatting with Pietro had diminished her anger with the speedster but greatly increased her anger with Clint. Much of the reason that Pietro had been kept from her was because Clint decided it was best. And she wasn't sure how long it would take to forgive him. Laura glanced over Wanda and then back at Clint before looking back at the witchling.

"Is there even an Avengers anymore?"

* * *

 **OMG. Last time I talked to you all I had just sent my book for editing. Well, this document I have been working on since I was in middle school, so I had edited it over and over myself. Apparently that hard work paid off as even though it took longer than 10 days for the editor to look it over, it only took me one night to go through and add additional changes to what my editor did. So as if July 4** **th** **, 2018, at 8:07 am,** _ **Project New World**_ **is off to the printers! The website I am using says it will be ready around August 18** **th** **so I will let you all know how that works out.**

 **Clint and Darius are still well. Not much new to report there. Hot as heck up here but we went to the zoo yesterday and saw a dino area. Really fun and was happy to see robotic dinos rather than still figures in the exhibit. Darius enjoyed looking at the dinos at first but then one of the dinos looked at his face and 'roared'. After that there was a bit of tears and crying when we got too close. Clint loved it and tried to get too close. No sense of self preservation as he tried to pet the T-Rex's nose as well.**

 **RESPONSES:**

 **Favorites:** FairyRave, NerdGirl1210, newby6320, Hannah201, KillaZillaX10A, iwouldbesocialbutt, FanGirlForever19

 **Follows:** Matteo6321, FairyRave, Dragonfire81, NerdGirl1210, shadow16350, KillaZillaX10A, iwouldbesocialbutt, xXCinderzXx, Rabidleper, FanGirlForever19

 **Reviews:**

Guest - Hello, glad you like it. Yes, this story is connected to all stories posted after, _After Training, Everything Goes Wrong._ While you may not need to read all those stories, it might be helpful to understand what is going on. I tried to fill in the blanks as much as possible in case people forgot details or didn't find the other stories as interesting and were unable to read them. Glad that you found it engaging and interesting. Ironically that it was my editor said about my real book, lol. Hope you continue to enjoy!

NerdGirl1210 - Thank you! And also thank you for the PM.


	3. Wakanda

-CHAPTER 3: Wakanda-

The rest of the flight to Wakanda was simple and silent. Clint headed to the RV to finally see his kids and explain a bit of what was going on. Laura stayed in the co-pilot's seat, watching for any issues. The jet was part Stark Tech and Clint wouldn't put it past the genius to have Friday hack into it in an effort to find Steve or even himself. Pietro and Wanda meanwhile fell into an uneasy silence of simply staring at each other wondering what they should say to the other.

Similar to how long it took Clint to get home, the flight was only twenty to thirty minutes. The Wakandians thankfully left the jet alone to land, shut down and even let them unload the RV before standing guard. As Clint left the driver's seat of the now unloaded RV, T'Challa and Steve were already coming down and waiting. At Clint's request, Wanda, Laura and the kids held back. Pietro meanwhile hide himself in the RV, not wanting to go see Steve after seeing Wanda's reaction to him. Clint had previously admitted to the speedster that no one other then them remembered the other reality and they didn't fully believe him on it.

"I am certain that I allowed you use of the jet again but. I did not mention you staying here," T'Challa mentioned, waving a hand to the RV. Clint smirked as Wanda left the RV and headed over. Laura and the kids shifted into view but stayed by the vehicle. Arrow, held on a leash by Cooper, tugged and yipped at his master, wanting to be by his side. Clint glanced back and gave the dog a simple hand signal and Arrow whimpered but backed down.

"Just dropping this back off before leaving again," Clint replied, nodding his head toward the Quinjet behind the RV. T'Challa glanced over the jet with the large Avengers symbol pained on it. Clint shrugged. "Tony is gonna want it back soon and best not in my hands when he does."

"None of us should be here when he does," Steve agreed, suddenly inserting himself and Wanda into Clint's escape plan. Clint raised an eyebrow at the solider even as T'Challa nodded in agreement. The King was slowly beginning to regret the ideals of the Sokovia Accords. It was nice having the Avengers under control but seeing what happened with Bucky Barnes getting framed and only Steve, an outside force, being the only one willing to find out the truth of what was going on, T'Challa realized that maybe they shouldn't be. Avengers needed to stand up for what was right and the Accords were a nice step in control but maybe a different approach was needed.

"Barnes shall remain safe here. Stark will never find him," T'Challa soothed, glancing at Steve even as the solider glanced back toward where Bucky was now frozen. The Captain could only nod before looking back to Wanda and Clint. After breaking everyone out of the Raft, Sam and Scott split off from the rest of the group. Scott had to return home and check on his daughter while Sam felt it best if they didn't stick together long. Wanda had no where to go and so Clint offered her a space with him. Steve had been so focused on helping Bucky that now… Now he had no idea what to do. Clint rolled his eyes as the Captain gave him a look that basically begged the archer to allow him to join his ragtag family.

"Not to be any more of an inconvenience but... Can you lend my family and I a ride out of Africa?" Clint wondered. Laura took that as her sign to move forward. She came over, holding Nate with one hand and grabbed for Clint's hand with the other. Cooper, with Arrow obediently at his side, followed. Lila, holding the stuffed rabbit and cat from before, hid behind her brother but peeked out to catch a glance of T'Challa. The King chuckled lightly at that, his eyes roaming over the RV and it's extreme lack of ability to much of anything other than travel and keep them safe from the elements.

"I believe we have some time before anyone comes here. Please, rest here for a such time. My people can help hide that vehicle better than any Stark Tech," T'Challa offered. Clint couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Don't tell Tony that! He'll take it as a challenge," the archer warned. T'Challa nodded even as Laura squeezed Clint's hand to get his attention. Clint looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Somehow, they silently communicated something and Clint let out a sigh before turning back to T'Challa. "Thank you."

T'Challa smiled, having already learned that Clint wasn't the best with authority. The archer showed his respect not by calling T'Challa by the title he deserved. It was an odd experience to deal with considering T'Challa was new to being King but the panther wasn't going to complain. Clint suddenly shifted so that T'Challa could see more of his family.

"King T'Challa, I would like to introduce my wife, Laura, eldest son Cooper, daughter Lila and youngest son, Nathanial," Clint said, for once using T'Challa title. Somehow, the King could tell the archer had done this more for his family's sake then doing it out of honor. Now the panther could really tell why Clint never used his title before. Even stating it as normally as possible, everyone could tell Clint was uncomfortable with it.

"It is an honor," T'Challa greeted, bringing a hand, shaped like a fist, to his chest. Laura did a part bow to him as well, shifting Nate ever so slightly as she did. The boy let out a coo of joy as some of her hair fell onto him.

"Your Highness," she replied in return. Cooper and Lila also bowed but both were clearly too nervous to speak. Arrow yipped, drawing attention to himself before also bowing his head in T'Challa's direction. Clint raised an eyebrow at that even as he glanced at Laura. She shrugged. No one knew the dog could do that. T'Challa chuckled even as Clint shook it off and glanced back at the RV. He gave it the slightest of nods before turning back to T'Challa with a quick glance at Steve. Steve frowned at that even as Wanda crossed her arms and shifted to stand closer to the Captain.

"Uh. I'd also like to introduce my adopted child..." Clint began, trailing off as he knew how this would look. Wanda scoffed, her powers flaring lightly which just made Clint wince. He knew she was still mad at him but had hoped the flight would have lessened it. Apparently it had increased instead.

"Adopted?" Steve called, confused that Clint and Laura would need to take such a step. Then there was a puff of air and fading silver blur before Steve noticed that Pietro was suddenly standing right beside Clint. Steve quickly glanced at Wanda before focusing on Clint with a shocked and upset look.

"T'Challa and Steve... This is Pietro Maximoff-Barton," Clint introduced. T'Challa raised an eyebrow at Steve needing to be introduced as well but nodded a hello to Pietro. Pietro nodded back but like Clint, focused solely on Steve.

"Pietro? But- How?" Steve stuttered out. Figuring this was a more private matter, T'Challa waved a welcoming hand out to Clint's family. The guards also took that as their cue and backed away from the RV to go about their daily business.

"Mrs. Barton, please, allow me to show you and your family to your rooms," the King offered. Laura took one look at the situation happening beside her before nodding. Getting the kids away from this volatile situation may be for the best.

"Why thank you, Your Highness," she replied, ignoring how tense Clint suddenly got. She placed a comforting hand on Clint's shoulder before kissing his cheek and accepting T'Challa's outstretched hand. "Call me Laura."

"Then please, take you husband's example. Call me T'Challa."

"I think that's a first that someone told me to behave like my husband," Laura joked before they moved out of ear shot. Clint's head jerked to look over at his wife with a frown and muffled 'hey' even as T'Challa let out a loud laugh. Steve couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face even with the situation around him. Even the kids (the twins included) let out a chuckle at Clint's expense. Steve waited a few more seconds before looking back at Clint and Pietro. Wanda shifted again to stand even closer to Steve, as if the Captain would protect her from whatever lies she expected Clint to give out.

"How?" the Captain questioned once again. Clint glanced over at Pietro who simply nodded. The truth needed to come out now. No more secrets.

"Well... The other reality," Clint replied as if that gave off all the answers he needed. Steve frowned, straining to remember any detail of the other place. It was hard and typically gave him a headache whenever he did try. His dreams sometimes gave him some insight but, he couldn't remember it quite like Clint had always been able too. Some days were better than others and today was apparently going to be a bad day.

"You can't seriously expect us to believe that still, can you?" Wanda hissed lightly, her anger over being kept from Pietro over shadowing anything else. Amazingly, before she saw Pietro, Wanda had been Clint's main advocate over the other reality. Clint was only partly shocked to see this sudden switch but knew that his betrayal was the main reason for it. Pietro frowned and looked over at Clint before sudden understanding dawned on him. Clint wouldn't have willingly let Wanda use her powers on him so the archer hadn't actually shared what happened to him. The speedster rolled his eyes.

"Use your powers, you know it's real," Pietro snapped, more frustrated with Clint's lack of foresight than Wanda trying to respect Clint's wishes to be left alone. Clint winced even as Wanda raised an eyebrow. Steve frowned and glanced between the three in confusion. Pietro sighed and looked at Clint. "You let her before. Do it now."

"I was trying to avoid it," Clint muttered so softly that Steve almost missed it. Rolling her eyes, Wanda covered all four of them in her powers without warning. Clint jumped and tried to shield himself but Wanda had no time for his bullshit and shattered it faster than he could reinforce it. Seconds later the power faded and Clint stumbled back with Pietro fast to try and support him.

"Holy-" Wanda cried, shocked by everything she had received from the duo. Steve shook his own head, trying to get it back in place after being assaulted with all that memory.

"Shit," he breathed out before he could stop himself. Clint chuckled, shaking his own head to rebuild the walls that Wanda so efficiently destroyed.

"Language," the archer coughed out, trying hard to get his mind set so he could talk. Steve paused for a moment before the memory came to him and he chuckled as well.

"Why didn't we do that before?" the Captain wondered, slowly looking up to see that Clint had paled a bit and that Pietro was supporting the man. Steve glanced at Wanda to see that she looked a bit sheepish. When Clint's silvery blue eyes focused on her, the teen mouthed sorry.

"It's my fault," Clint mumbled, shaking his head again even as a rather large headache started forming. "I'll always be iffy around magic. Doesn't matter how effective it can be."

"But, that link..." Steve said, trailing off as something else occurred to him. Bucky had been completely himself in that other reality. Nothing like the man he had fought beside recently. Clint frowned, looking up at Steve before suddenly realizing the same thing. Wanda had helped Bucky.

"Fuck! I'm such a goddamn idiot!" Clint angrily cried at himself wanting to smash his head into a wall. Steve looked up at him, an angered glare on his face that lessened a bit with Clint's words. Wanda and Pietro frowned before Wanda smacked her own head, the memory coming to her.

"I helped Bucky," she finished. Steve turned to look back at where Bucky was frozen.

"We have to tell T'Challa!"

* * *

Bucky slowly became aware that something was happening to him. He was getting warmer. Someone was waking him. How much time had passed? Was he still in Wakanda? Was T'Challa still in charge? Hell, was Steve still alive? Did Tony find him? Hydra? What happened since he went under? Knowing that he wasn't going to get the answers laying here, Bucky slowly began to work on checking everything was still functional. A few seconds later, someone gently touched his wrist. Time to see what was going on. Carefully, Bucky peeled his eyes opened and looked around. The chamber was open and a woman, the same woman who had put him in this chamber, was checking him over. Just past her, Bucky could see a cluster of people. Blinking twice, Bucky's vision cleared enough for him to see that one of the people was Steve. Seeing that, Bucky found he didn't care who any of the others was until he looked Steve over more carefully.

"Did you just happen to dress the same or did you intentionally remember?" the assassin couldn't help but ask, nodding his head to Steve. Steve frowned and glanced down at his clothing while Clint, beside the captain, chuckled. Bucky then looked over everyone else. Beside Clint was a silver haired boy that Bucky distantly thought he remembered. Standing behind the boy and to the side was Wanda, the witchling who had gotten arrested trying to help. The rest of the room was filled distantly with various Wakandians.

"Uh," Steve eloquently replied, glancing over to Clint and the others. Clint only laughed a bit harder but didn't offer the solider any help.

"You have only been under for a few hours," a Wakandian scientist called, drawing Bucky's attention to them. It was the woman who had checked his pulse. Bucky frowned at her and glanced back over to Steve who simply nodded. "There should be no side effects left over from the container and limited time under. But you may feel tired and should rest soon."

"Hours? But..." Bucky stuttered even as the Wakandian scientist and another Wakandian began helping him to get out of the chamber. Still reeling from the knowledge of only being under for a short period of time, Bucky easily followed them and stepped out. He stumbled one step but then locked his knees as the Wakandians went over final checks. Ignoring them, Bucky focused on Steve again. "The programming. Is it? Am I?"

"We have a way to get rid of it, forever," Clint soothed as if Bucky knew him better than just their one battle and brief meeting. Bucky frowned at the archer even as his mind flashed to a New York apartment with Clint, him and a few others creating a plan of attack on something. One of those others was the female beside Steve, Wanda. And the other was the boy... Phil? Paul? Peter?

"Pietro?" Bucky half guessed, focusing on the silver haired boy. The teen gave the assassin a huge smile even as Clint and Steve glanced at each other. Without the threat of the other assassins, apparently Bucky could delve into the memories from the other reality. Maybe he could remember as much as Clint but for now, he at least remembered more than Steve.

"Hey there, Metal Arm," Pietro joked back. Bucky cracked a smile in return. That had been the name that Pietro first called him when they met in the other reality. Of course that was also before Bucky had been turned onto their side. After that, Pietro only called him Bucky.

"Okay, he's all set but please, make sure he gets some rest soon," the Wakandian scientist told the group. Bucky frowned at her and looked back toward the others. Steve was nodding in agreement while Wanda looked nervous. Pietro seemed antsy, almost like he could go off and run a race which remembering a bit about him, Bucky wouldn't be surprised if the kiddo did. Clint on the other hand, he rolled his eyes at the woman. Almost like he knew what he was doing and planned on ignoring her.

"Let's head to my room for now," Steve suggested and slowly led the group away.

* * *

"So, this is what? The orders?" Bucky wondered, quickly scanning over the Russian words that Wanda copied from his memories. He stiffened as the memories flashed over how many times he had heard these very words, everything still fresh and open since Wanda looked them over.. Steve and Clint also tensed but when Bucky gently placed the paper down and looked away, they relaxed. There was no telling if even reading the pre-programmed words would do the same thing as if someone said them to the assassin.

"Yes, this is what Zemo said to you before you went Ape-shit," Clint replied, shifting to move the sheet of paper further away. Steve turned an leveled a glare at the archer. Clint shrugged. There was no getting around it. That's basically what happened. Zemo was there testing to make sure the words were real, that he found the real notebook to control the soldiers. Sending Bucky off to attack anyone who got in his way was just a distraction to get away. Clint had realized it while in his prison cell and had explained such after Steve rescued him. Bucky chuckled.

"Yeah, ape-shit," the assassin agreed, glad for the bluntness of the statement. Clint smirked back. "So, what is this fix cause I'm pretty certain we never got the notebook back from Zemo."

"No, we didn't," Steve stated. Slowly he glanced over to Wanda. Bucky followed his gaze and frowned for a second before looking back at the captain.

"Wait, seriously? I kinda remember it working in that other reality but... Are we certain it could work here?" Bucky asked, almost hesitant to let the witchling back into his head for a second time. Clint again shrugged as he looked over the to the others. They were all stepping into new territory here. Who knows what worked and what didn't work.

"I don't see why not," the archer retorted when no one else replied. Bucky rolled his eyes at the man. He had forgotten how Clint just tended to roll with the punches rather than plan out the best course of action.

"Is everything you do a half-assed, stupid plan?" Bucky wondered. Steve suddenly laughed at that and Clint turned to give him a faux hurt look that only made Steve laugh a bit harder. Even Wanda and Pietro cracked a smile. Wanda remembered the moment she saw Clint walking into the Avengers training grounds to rescue her and Vision stating that Clint could never defeat him. Clint had relied on the idea that Wanda would help him and not stay under guard with Vision. Pietro remembered everything from the other reality. The man had just kept moving and moving, never once stopping to think. Bucky smirked at the two original Avengers and nodded his head toward Steve once Clint looked back over. "Don't worry, he ain't much better."

Now it was Clint's turn to laugh and Steve gave both of them a dirty look. Wanda shook her head at the groups antics, itching to get this whole situation over with. The closer the idea of helping Bucky out, the more nervous she became. What if she messed up? What if she couldn't do it? While she knew what she had done in the other reality, that had mostly been a mistake. She had only tried to get rid of the most recent programming. What if she couldn't replicate it here? Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked up surprised. Everyone was looking at her and Clint had moved closer. It was his hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" the archer questioned. Slowly, Wanda nodded. "You'll do fine. I trust you."

"Thanks," she whispered before moving to stand behind Bucky. The man was already sitting in a reclining chair that had been in Steve's room. This position was easier for them as Bucky would be waist height on Wanda, just like he had been in Stephen Strange's New York apartment. Suddenly feeling much more confident, Wanda placed her hands around either side of Bucky's head. The man tensed for a moment before relaxing. This was a vulnerable position for him and hard for him to just sit still while Wanda did who knows what. She looked up a the men. "Last chance to back out."

"Do it. I don't want anyone controlling me, ever again," Bucky hissed. Wanda nodded and her power flared to life around him.

* * *

 **Does it work? Does Wanda succeed? Who knows! Find out next time on Clint is Dead! Sorry... Couldn't resist.**

 **Clint and Darius are still doing fine. Recently learned that it's not a good idea to give Darius peanuts as he gets violently ill afterwards. Not an instant thing but more a few hours later. But just solid peanuts. He can have peanut butter and stuff like that but if you feed him peanuts he gets sick. Clint just started summer school yesterday. A little confusing as a bus passes by the house like twenty minutes before he goes and before he gets dropped off. Don't know if they go to the same school or not but it was confusing to walk outside just in time for this first bus to go flying past. Thought I was late for a minute or two.**

 **Currently trying out purple hair. Totally love it as of right now but I just got it done last night so who knows how long I'll love it for. My book is in the current processes of being created! In like 3 to 4 weeks there should be a posting on Amazon to preorder. Again, I will keep everyone updated on that. Anxiety getting high on that as I'm not sure people will like it and I have yet to start working on it's sequel. Still have to finish writing this fanfiction too! UGH! There is just not enough time in a day...**

 **RESPONSES:**

 **Favorites:** pottyandweezlbe89, Meztli14

 **Follows:** Morrighan0001, Meztli14

 **Reviews: *NO ONE!***


	4. What Now?

-CHAPTER 4: What Now?-

For a moment after Wanda's power flared, nothing happened. Steve glanced over at Clint but the archer hadn't stopped watching the witchling and assassin. Pietro shifted nervously. Then suddenly, Bucky started squirming in his seat, almost like he was trying to slide out of the chair but couldn't move his head and neck away from Wanda and her power. Clint frowned now. Was something going wrong? Had it been too long since Bucky was last programmed for Wanda to find it all? Was Bucky unconsciously fighting?

"It didn't seem to take this long in your memories," Steve commented, feeling unsettled as he looked back over his friend. Bucky suddenly hissed something in Russian that made Clint's frown deepen into a concerned look.

"It didn't," Clint confirmed after a few more seconds of angered Russian words from Bucky. Steve turned back to Clint and noticed the archer looked just as worried as he felt. Almost as if Clint's voice was a catalyst, Bucky suddenly got louder but his Russian dissolved into gibberish.

"Should we stop them?" Pietro wondered even though he knew how dangerous that could be. But he feared for Bucky and Wanda's mental states at the end. In the other reality, Wanda needed a while to come back from Bucky's distressing memories and they had only been connected for a few seconds. They were currently onto three minutes of the duo being connected. But Clint shook his head no. If Wanda was in the middle of doing something important in Bucky's memories, they could cause irreparable damage to Bucky, if not both of them as the mental whiplash would hit Wanda hard.

"Wanda knows what she's doing," Clint tried to soothe but his worry still leaked through to tint his words. Steve and Pietro shared a glance but understood that overall, it would be a bad idea to stop them. Bucky then took that moment to stop talking. In fact both Wanda and Bucky seemed to have gone so still that they hardly looked like they were breathing. "Wanda?"

"I think we should stop them," Pietro repeated, a bit more desperately than before. Clint glanced over and noticed the boy was shifting his weight back and forth so rapidly it looked like he was jogging in place. The archer held up a hand and Pietro stopped to glare at him. In doing so, both missed as Wanda lessened her use of her power and seemed to slowly and carefully pull out of Bucky's mind.

"Finished," Wanda softly called as she pulled the last tendril of her power from Bucky's head. Slowly the assassin opened his eyes before rapidly blinking and looking up at everyone. Wanda took a step back and fell onto the pre-positioned couch. Pietro hurried over to her side and she waved him off. Clint glanced between the 'twins' and Bucky, wondering who he should focus on more. Steve didn't have the same problem, he was right at Bucky's side.

"I, uh, don't feel any different," Bucky mumbled, confused. In the other reality, he almost felt like a pressure had been lifted and it had taken him a while to get all the loose thoughts back in order. Now though... Now, everything was the same. Nothing felt different at all.

"From what I saw in both your minds, the other uh… Wanda, didn't expect to fight those commands. I think she might have gone in almost like a cannon ball. It's doubtful she got rid of everything. So this time, I went in carefully. I focused on every little detail. In doing so, I'm over ninety-five percent certain that I got rid of everything," Wanda mentioned, her head in her hands. It had taken more out of her then she'd thought but she was proud of her work. She had been careful to disentangle Bucky's memories with the programming that Hydra had given him. It was hard cause she needed to leave the memory of being programmed otherwise Bucky would have gotten depressed and possibly risked hurting himself or maybe even others.

"We got that transcript. Why not test the commands again to see if they do anything?" Steve carefully suggested, looking between Clint and Bucky. Bucky paled and looked up to Clint as the archer shifted the paper he had hidden. Clint frowned and glanced at Bucky, waiting for him to say something. Wanda leaned back on the couch, watching in silence while Pietro shifted to make sure she was comfortable.

"Let's do it," Bucky told them. Steve glanced at Clint who just nodded. Sighing, the archer looked the transcript over and then back up at Bucky. Bucky nodded, he was ready and would willing tell them when it got too far.

" _Longing,_ " Clint intoned in Russian. Bucky winced and the archer paused. After a second, Bucky nodded. " _Rusted._ " Clint continued. Bucky sighed. " _Seventeen._ " Bucky looked to Steve, a smile slowly starting to form. " _Daybreak._ " Steve focused on Bucky with a questioning look. " _Furnace._ " Bucky let out a chuckle. " _Nine._ " Steve smiled softly at his friend. " _Benign._ " Wanda sighed, relieved that apparently it had worked. These orders were some of the oldest in Bucky's mind. " _Homecoming._ " Pietro slowly stood and moved away from Wanda so that he could watch Bucky. Knowing that sometimes the ending was what actually had the effect, not the beginning. " _One._ " Clint said, looking up finally to focus solidly on Bucky. The other assassin turned to focus on him as well. " _Freight car._ "

When Clint finally got the last bit out sound out of his mouth, everyone froze while staring at Bucky. For a moment, almost as long as a minute, they all just waited. Then Bucky turned to look at Steve. In the footage from Zemo's interaction with Bucky, there had been a noticeable difference in Bucky's state. Frowning, Clint also turned to look at Steve.

"Buck?" the captain cautiously asked. Bucky broke into a smile. Upon seeing that, the others relaxed.

"Nothing! I feel nothing!" the assassin happily replied before spinning to look at Wanda. "Thank you!"

"It's no problem. Glad to have my power used for good," Wanda retorted. Pietro scoffed, shifting to sit closer to her. Wanda glanced at him even as Bucky turned to focus on Steve. Clint even looked away.

"I saw the news. More people would have been killed if your didn't do what you did," Pietro nearly growled. He had raged at the news back at the Barton Farm. Clint had to sit on the kid's lap in an effort to stop him from running to Wanda's side that day. The archer had half hoped that Pietro's anger of the situation would have diminished by now but apparently, that wasn't the case. Wanda just nodded at his words. She had heard it over and over by the other Avengers but still, she couldn't believe it. Steve shifted away from Bucky and closer to Wanda. Bucky and Clint now focused on the trio.

"I told you before, it never should have gotten that far. I should have noticed it," Steve told the teen. Wanda sighed and nodded again. Clint could tell it wasn't the first time Steve had mentioned that to her.

"Hey. We've all made mistakes. Don't blame yourself for what happened. Get up, learn from it and do better next time," Clint stated. Wanda looked up at the archer and couldn't stop the small smile from forming on her face. Coming from Clint, it amazingly meant more to her than coming from anyone else. When he had 'messed up', he had gotten taken over by a god and helped destroy a lot of New York. Rather than drowning in self pity and sorrow, Clint had fought in the battle and saved countless numbers of people with his arrows and continued to fight to save even more.

"Thanks," Wanda finally said. Clint nodded even as Steve sent him a curious look. Wanda had mentioned once to Steve that Clint was the reason she helped fight Ultron. She had panicked and Clint had reassured her in her ability to help. His speech was why she still kept fighting.

"So, now what?" Pietro asked.

* * *

"WOAH! That is so cool!" Cooper cried, his voice carrying easily down the hall to Clint and Pietro as they wandered through the Wakandian palace in an attempt to find the rest of the Barton family. Wanda headed off to her room in order to rest and Steve decided to watch over Bucky resting in his room. Pietro smirked at the boy's voice and rushed ahead to check it out while Clint just shook his head at the boy's antics. Admittedly, Clint was half curious as to what had excited his eldest but he figured he could wait till he got there.

"The claws are made from an element only found here in Wakanda," T'Challa intoned just as Clint reached the room that his family had been offered. The archer pulled to a stop there and looked in. T'Challa, back in his Black Panther uniform, was standing by the entrance with Cooper staring closely at the same claws that had destroyed one of Clint's bows. Hearing now what the claws were made of, Clint wasn't surprised his bow broke. Only one rare element came from Wakanda. Lila was also close to looking at the uniform, but she was clutching a stuffed animal and a bit further back than Cooper. Pietro was right beside Cooper, looking down at the claws in fascination. Laura was busy feeding Nate on the couch deeper into the room, Arrow at her feet. Seeing the archer, the dog got up and headed over to his master as Clint began checking the room out. Clint was half surprised to note that this room looked a lot like Steve's. "We call it Vibranium."

"And it's stronger than Adamantium?" Cooper questioned. Clint smirked, absently petting Arrow when the dog nudged his hand. For being his kid, Cooper was far smarter and more interested in science and learning that Clint ever was. Laura kept trying to tell Clint that Cooper got his smarts from the archer but Clint, who still had yet to get his GED, couldn't believe her. T'Challa chuckled at the boy and nodded.

"You know your rare metals, yes. Not by much, Vibranium will do some damage to Adamantium. Can't cut through it like steel but will scratch it on it's first pass," the new King explained. Cooper and Lila 'oohed'. Pietro smirked as he reached out to touch it. T'Challa recalled the claws with an odd look on his face. Pietro frowned but got the idea of 'look, don't touch'. Arrow growled at the sound of the claws retracting and headed over to Cooper's side in case of danger.

"How malleable is it?" Cooper asked. T'Challa glanced up at Laura in surprise. She smiled and shrugged, knowing that he was wondering how Cooper was Clint's kid. Many people over the years had asked the same thing. Shaking his head, Clint slipped past T'Challa and his kids (Pietro included) to head over to Laura and his youngest on the couch. Nate was just finished feeding and Laura was currently trying to burp him. Smiling, Clint placed a kiss on his wife's cheek as Nate let out a loud burp right into the archer's face. Laura chuckled when Clint pulled back and made a face at the smell.

"So, how is everyone?" Laura wondered, figuring that Clint stayed away for some important talks. Clint sighed, thinking back on his friends. Wanda had forgiven the archer soon after she opened his mind to share in Pietro's and his memory of the other reality. Steve never really had anything to forgive as it was Pietro's choice not to join the Avengers but to hang back.

"Wanda just helped Bucky Barnes break the programming from Hydra. No chance of him turning on us now," Clint informed, having kept Laura as appraised as possible about everything to do with the Avengers, including the fact that James Buchanan Barnes was the Winter Soldier. Laura smiled and raised her eyebrow as Nate twisted in her arms to look over at his father. Clint absently grabbed the boy and held him close. Nate cooed in a pleased manner before relaxing into the archer's strong arms.

"There was a chance of that before?" she softly wondered, almost accusing Clint of not fully telling her something. Clint winced. He had forgotten to mention Bucky's lapse of control soon after the Accords had been sent out.

"Minimal," Clint choked out, knowing that he had messed up. Carefully, he shifted away from his wife slightly. Laura hummed, glancing down at Nate who had suddenly drifted off. She wouldn't risk waking the boy, instead leveled Clint with a look that told him he'd better explain. Clint gave a meek chuckle to relieve some tension in his frame. "He was fine, under his own control, unless someone gave out a series of Russian commands. And…"

"And you felt I didn't need to know that cause no one really knew the commands," Laura accused. Clint sighed before looking down at the sleeping Nate. At a little over eight months old, the boy still tended to sleep more than not. The doctors were a bit concerned with the amount of sleep but Laura wasn't. Nate was high active during the times he was awake and not eating. Clint shifted his gaze to the couch.

"I'm sleeping here tonight, aren't I?" the archer muttered, resigned to his fate. Laura chuckled and Clint turned to her only to watch her nod in agreement. He had agreed to share everything with her after S.H.I.E.L.D fell and especially after the alternate reality. Clint still had nightmares from his dead family and after the first, Laura demanded to know everything from Pietro and Clint. Noting the tension in his master's frame, Arrow glanced at T'Challa for a moment before heading over to Clint's feet. Clint gave the pup a soft smile and nodded a hello to him. Laura's smile grew sightly as she reached down and patted the pup's head. Arrow gave a soft growl of approval at her touches before laying down further and faking sleep.

"What is everyone planning now?" Laura softly questioned, leaning back into the couch to stare at her husband and youngest. Clint shifted slightly to get comfortable even as both parents heard T'Challa offer to give Cooper, Lila and Pietro to join him on a small tour of Wakanda. Clint tensed, afraid to separate from his kids in a strange place. Leaving them with Laura was different even though T'Challa had proven to be a highly trained martial arts fighter, Clint was still afraid to leave them. But sadly it wasn't his choice when T'Challa looked up at them for permission. Laura smiled and nodded an acceptance before Clint could begin to shake his head no. Frowning at his wife, Clint turned back in time to see T'Challa leading the kids away. He gave a sharp whistle and Arrow instantly was on his feet. With a simple nod of his head, Arrow was chasing after the kids, stopping only to grab his leash off the ground by the door where Cooper last left it. Laura smiled and looked over to Clint with a hum. Clint sighed.

"Well... I don't know. Bucky was gonna stay here... Had been in a freezing chamber and I think Steve might have been planning on traveling," Clint started listing. Laura glanced at the archer closer. Clint sighed and looked away. She smiled and placed a hand on her arm to make her look back at him.

"You want to ask them to join us?" she asked. Clint sighed. He hadn't fully thought it through but now that Laura said it. Yeah, that was what he wanted. Knowing that, he searched her face and saw a resigned amusement. She wasn't too keen on this idea. He winced.

"It was just gonna be Wanda... But Steve can't stay here with Bucky and... well," Clint stuttered out, trying to think of the best reasons why he should bring his friends with him. Laura chuckled and sat back more, looking over the spacious room. Something in her mind clicked. Even though they were all wanted, having them around would be nice.

"It'd be nice to have the extra help. And the RV is big enough for all of us to sleep comfortably," Laura mentioned. Clint glanced over at her with a surprised expression. Of all the responses from her, he never expected her to actually agree with him this quickly. She smiled at him. "They are your friends and they need help."

"That is... Wow," Clint muttered, unsure how to respond. Laura chuckled.

"King T'Challa went over some plans for the RV. It could become a home base like Coulson always wanted it to be," Laura suggested. Clint paled lightly at the name. One other thing he had kept secret from her. Laura frowned. "Clint..."

"No, it's nothing," Clint tried to say. Laura again leveled him with a look. He sighed deeply.

"If it's about Coulson not really being dead, he visited while you were in jail," Laura finally soothed. Clint jerked up and turned to face her. His sudden movements made Nate wake and the boy started to cry in surprise. Clint softly cussed and began rocking the boy, getting to his feet to rock him better. Unknown to him, Steve and Bucky came down the hall and stopped to visit.

"You saw Coulson?" Clint cried the second after Nate calmed back down. Steve froze in the doorway, hidden behind Clint's pacing frame. Bucky paused beside him, giving his friend a confused look. It had been a long time since anyone heard from Coulson, or hell even mentioned him. Last any of the Avengers saw of the man was a few days after Clint's permanent hearing aids had been properly adjusted and Tony threw a large party over it. It was then that Coulson told the group his last good-byes and begged that they all made the Avengers work, for him. He also told them not to get back in touch with him. There was no way he could be seen with any of them again.

"Yes. He's been visiting regularly since you lost your hearing," Laura mentioned, figuring Clint had already been told that Coulson would be doing such. Clint frowned at hearing that. If Coulson couldn't be seen with any of the Avengers, why would he willingly visit Laura? "I've been trying to keep him updated on everything you all have been doing."

"He said he couldn't see us anymore cause of the Council... But when S.H.I.E.L.D fell-" Clint began to say stopping only when Laura cleared her throat and looked away. Clint's frown deepened as he focused on her. She was fidgety and nervous. After a moment of simple staring, Laura sighed.

"S.H.I.E.L.D didn't end when Natasha and Steve leaked all those files. It uh, continued on under Coulson's direction for a while," Laura admitted, glad to finally be rid of her biggest secret. "They've been focusing on the Inhuman influx."

"Why didn't he tell us?" Steve finally asked, coming into the room, Bucky rolling his eyes at his friend. Clint spun around to see the Captain slipping past Bucky and head over toward Laura. Bucky sighed and leaned against the door frame, figuring if he had no idea what was happening and no one wanted to explain, then it must not affect him. Laura stood, ready to defend herself.

"Coulson was acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D for a time and had much on his hands. He still worried that if the Council knew S.H.I.E.L.D was alive, they'd go after him. He needed to keep it a secret," Laura tried explaining, not knowing the real reason why Coulson never saw fit to go back to the Avengers. Steve glanced at Clint as if the archer knew why. Clint just shrugged. He had no idea what was going through his ex-handler's mind.

"Why didn't he let us know that he was fine?" Steve wondered, not really asking Laura or Clint. Laura shrugged. She had long assumed that Hill had let them know about Coulson's status as she had been in touch with Coulson. In fact, Coulson had never told her that Clint didn't know he was visiting her. Apparently, Coulson learned much from his time underneath Nick Fury.

"I... I don't know," Laura muttered as if she had all the answers for them.

* * *

 **Well, it has certainly been a while. I apologize. Got into a deep depressive episode where I couldn't do anything. My house was a mess, my kids are hardly listening to me anymore, and I have no food. Thankfully, I was recently put on new meds that put me back to normal. Then I was simply out of time. But I finally found some time today.**

 **Clint and Darius are doing well. Darius is now big enough that he can easily climb out of his crib so we're going to have to soon make his bed a toddler bed. Clint has been giving everyone a whole ton of attitude. Demanding things, rarely asking, and throwing mini tantrums when he doesn't get his way. So annoying. I get that it's a phase, but it's a phase that I want to never go through again and have Clint get out of like... FIFTEEN DAYS AGO! Ugh. Pray for my sanity and patience.**

 **RESPONSES:**

 **Favorites:** popstar55 (ADCaK), Werefoxz (ADCaK), StarWarsandDisneylover (ADCaK), AngelWings98, Valeenafrank, Valeenafrank (me), toomanyFandoms18 (5 Times)

 **Follows:** Werefoxz (ADCaK), AngelWings98, Beautiful Dragon Princess, Valeenafrank

 **Reviews:**

AngelWings98 - Hello again, glad to see you following me. Also glad to see you loved it. And yes, it was going to work. And Pietro and Wanda will need some long talks and maybe Barton style therapy, but they'll be alright.

Natalie Rushman - Thank you. Yeah, wasn't supposed to be Alternate Reality but the movies kept messing with what I was doing, so now I just kinda sit beside the movies and include as much as I can. Can't wait to finish this story to work on the rest of the series and do my own Infinity Wars.

Valeenafrank - Glad you are loving it. And yes, I am making more. I have like up to 17 chapters prewritten. I just need to edit them and post while working on finishing the story and starting the sequel.


	5. Nearly Two Years Later

CHAPTER 5: Nearly Two Years Later

"You seriously trust him?" Bucky incredulously asked, his hands held up in a defensive fighting stance as his eyes narrowed on the man he had thought to be his friend. Clint, who had been standing right beside the assassin with his bow drawn and ready, began to relax his grip, assenting to Steve's command and the fact that Steve was standing in front of him, arms raised to stop either party from attacking each other. Wanda, who had been on Bucky's other side and a bit further behind him, also dropped her hands but they still had their red glow about them to show that she was still ready to attack or defend. Laura peeked out from the doorway of the RV, defended by the illegal superheroes before her. Hidden further inside, Arrow pushed at her legs, desperate to get to his master while Cooper held tight to his collar. Lila and Pietro worked in the background to keep Nate from crying out.

"Bucky, please," Steve nearly begged, turning his back to the last remaining person there. Tony Stark in full Iron Man regale. Seeing that the group, other than Bucky, was not really ready to attack anymore, Tony slowly disassembled the armor and stepped forward. But for safeties sake, the suit reassembled behind him, ready to defend it's creator.

"Last time I saw this guy, he tried to kill me!" Bucky cried, glancing back at the man now that he was out of his suit. A quick glance allowed Bucky to see that something bad had gotten to the genius. He looked utterly exhausted and down right upset but also generally worried.

"Scuse me if I got a bit emotional after learning you fucking killed my parents," Tony hissed, almost like he was too tired to yell back at the assassin. Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me if that's no reason to trust you now," Bucky snarled. Tony opened his mouth to argue but stopped when Steve spoke up.

"Back off! Both of you!" Steve snapped at the two of them. Tony's mouth closed with an audible click as he looked over to Wanda and finally resting on Clint. The archer sighed and finally lowered his bow to the ground and put his arrow away. Seeing that the immediate threat on her family must be over, Laura finally moved out of the doorway. Cooper released Arrow who rushed to his master's side with a slight growl in Tony's direction. The boy then jumped from the RV and rushed to Bucky's side, getting the man to lower his metal arm. Cooper attached himself to Bucky's real arm instead.

"It's on you if he attacks me again," Bucky warned Steve as he allowed Cooper to pull him back a few steps. Once he was deemed far enough away, Lila jumped out of the RV and grabbed a hold of Bucky's metal hand. Clint glanced back at the group when he noticed Tony's shocked look at the sight. As the archer stared at his family with Bucky, Nate toddled off the RV with the help of Laura and Pietro (still hidden in the RV). Once outside, the boy also headed over to Bucky and hung off the man's leg. But not for long, as soon as Bucky felt the boy touch him, the assassin slipped his hands free from the older kids to lift the tot into his arms.

It should have been surprising to Clint how fast his family attached themselves to the lost assassin. Bucky had spent an extra week sorting everything that Wanda had released when she got rid of all of his programming. During that time, Cooper studied beside the man while Lila drew and Nate would only nap in the same area as the man. Over the following years, the trio had only grown closer to the man. Clint was almost, almost mad when Nate first decided to call Steve 'dadda' before he ever dared to attempt it with the archer. While the younger Bartons followed Bucky around like his own mini shadows, Clint couldn't lose Pietro and Wanda. The twins attached themselves to him stronger than his own kids did with Bucky. Steve had thought the whole thing hilarious and often laughed with Laura a good distance away from either assassin.

"You called us here, saying we needed to assemble. Assemble for what, Tony?" Steve replied, shrugging off Bucky's angered retort as he knew that their eventual meeting up would go about this poorly or worse. He had talked with Laura about how best to fix his two best friends 'relationship' but Laura didn't have any advice other than to suggest that maybe Tony and Bucky would never work it out.

Clint rolled his eyes at that. This whole meeting was a shit storm in his eyes. He had known that this was going to be a bad idea but Laura had insisted, saying that it would be good for everyone. No matter how he tried to argue, Laura always came back to the fact that the world needed the Avengers. A statement that had been mentioned to him rather often when he had been in the other reality and something that Pietro would bring up every now and then since the 'Civil War' as it was now being called.

"I, uh… Got a call from NASA, a few days ago really. Uh… Apparently some big ship, really large, almost a hunk of space junk that somehow can fly-" Tony began, slowly rambling off into how Earth must really suck if it can't make a decent spaceship when there are ships as large as planets (or dwarf planets as this ship was estimated to be as large as Pluto's diameter) flying around out there. For a few minutes, Steve let the man ramble and then turned to Clint. Tony had started to go into the science of making his own space ship and was slowly loosing everyone's attention as they got lost and confused. Clint sighed.

"Tony!" the archer called, drawing the genius's attention back to the here and now. "Spill the details soon cause I gotta go feed my kids."

Cooper and Lila waved to Tony as the billionaire cringed and finally focused on the actual gathering of people behind Steve, Clint and Wanda. It took a few seconds more before Tony went nearly deathly pale. Steve and Wanda frowned at the sight but Clint knew what happened judging by Arrow's nose suddenly hitting him in the knee a few moments prior. The dog had an attachment to Pietro as the speedster seemed to be the only one willing to actually bring the dog out on a walk (read as run). The archer turned and sure enough, Pietro was now standing by Laura, who had shifted to stand closer to Wanda. Sighing, the archer looked back to Tony, daring him to say anything bad about the subject.

"Uh, gonna explain that Robin Hood?" Tony squeaked out, pointing to the speedster. Clint half chuckled. It was surprising how much one missed Tony's antics of calling them all names considering how much they all didn't really care for it.

"Not until you explain NASA and large alien ship, Bats," Clint countered, using a nickname that he wasn't sure Tony would get as it was a nickname of another 'superhero' billionaire. Tony frowned, his mind racing to get the joke. Steve chuckled, having been the one to find the infamous comic that had caused a month long feud between Laura, Bucky and Wanda over how much Batman reminded them of Tony and if Steve reminded them of Superman. For an extra few minutes, Tony tried to work it out before deciding he might be better off not knowing and then tried to get back on track with the actual conversation.

"Not alien… Well, alien but not. Asgardian or something," Tony stuttered, still unsure on the idea himself. Steve stepped forward at the last word, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Thor's back?" the captain wondered with amazement. Tony focused on him, finding it easier to stare at Steve than anyone else in the bunch.

"Uh, technically and with friends," Tony replied, slowly regaining back his confidence in the conversation. Steve and Clint frowned at that while Wanda turned to move and stand next to Pietro. Arrow suddenly whimpered and rubbed his head against Clint's leg. The archer glanced down at the pup and patted his head before a minor ache appeared in his chest. It had been happening often for the past few months and only gotten worse. Thankfully this 'attack' was weaker than some of the others. Clint vowed to ignore it until it got too bad. Steve quickly flashed a look at Clint but focused on Tony when the genius continued on. "The ship is filled to the brim with people, other Asgardians and they've been traveling nearing a year and a half just to get here."

"If Thor knows them, why the call to assemble?" Wanda asked, shifting away from Pietro when the speedster whispered something in her ear. "Why risk us getting caught by the Joint Security Council?"

"Oh, uh, they kinda cleared your guys for this. Uh, Thor needs us to rebuild there home and they want to do it somewhere here, on Mid… Earth," Tony answered but mostly everyone was stuck on the first part of that.

"Seriously?" Wanda muttered, wondering how long the JSC had stopped searching for them. Clint, knowing they wouldn't get anything done if they focused on the JSC clearing them of their actions, stepped forward with a minor wince of pain from his chest. Arrow gave a warning growl, his pain was going to get worse soon. Hopefully he'd be able to hide it.

"Is Earth just a wayward stop? First Attilan, now Asgard?" Clint hissed.

"I know, right? Anyways, Thor is asking us… Well, the Avengers, for a place for them to go and help uh… Building the place," Tony mostly whimpered out, unsure how the others would respond to Thor's reasonable but crazy request. Steve glanced at Clint and the archer already knew the answer to the soldier's unasked question. All the archer could do was sigh deeply. There was no fighting Steve on this, especially cause Clint knew that Laura would agree with the Captain.

"I'm gonna regret this but… Fine," Clint grumbled, trying to make it sound like it was actually his idea and not that he had a mental fight with Steve and Laura in which he lost. Steve smiled and turned to Wanda. The girl rolled her eyes. Like Clint, she knew it was useless to argue with Steve when he felt this way.

"Sure," she sighed out. Now came the hardest part. Before Steve could even turn to look at him, Bucky let out a deep angry growl. Steve couldn't help but wince as Tony shifted to hide behind him. Clint sighed, rolling his eyes even as he moved to sit on the ground. Sitting tended to help with the pain. Arrow whined again but Clint just patted him, letting the dog know that he was fine.

"Are you fu… Freaking kidding me?"

"Bucky," Steve whined, literally. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, Captain America whined like a like a little two year old. Clint smirked at the sight but wisely kept his mouth shut. Tony, who knew that Bucky was pissed at him, also wisely kept his mouth shut or else risk Bucky attacking him emotionally... Or maybe even physically depending on what was said.

"No!" Bucky cried, knowing how big of a fight this could get but unable to help it. He couldn't trust Tony at all. Couldn't trust that this whole thing wasn't a trap just to get him locked up for good. Tony started all this and, in agreement with Laura, Bucky knew that Tony would be the one who ended it. He just couldn't hope that it would end civilly like the genius was trying to do now.

"Don't think about Tony, think about the people you'd be helping," Laura suggested, having may discussions with each member about how they felt after the whole Civil War. She knew of Bucky's fears, probably better than Bucky himself. At her words, the assassin turned to look at her. She had a sympathetic look but there was something else that he couldn't distinguish. Slowly, his gaze drifted down to the three children clinging to him as if he was their father. Somehow, they had found out that Wanda and Bucky had always been the most vulnerable if the JSC ever found them. That they were who they were really after. Wanda wasn't one to have children clinging to her and Pietro had attached himself to her, not as closely as either had been with their actual sibling, but close enough that he'd protect her like she was.

Sighing, Bucky realized that Laura was right. No matter what his problem with Tony was, it shouldn't affect him helping people. He knew what it was like to lose his home, even to help rebuild homes torn apart from the war surrounding them. Slowly, Bucky focused his gaze back on Tony. He had lost most of his fight and anger for the man. No matter what, Bucky knew why Tony was emotional with him, but that was inexcusable. There will always be a rift between them, but hopefully over time it could get smaller. Now, one of them just needed to take the first step.

"I don't you working anywhere near me. I don't trust you to help me or watch my back. In fact, I half expect you to swing a fuc… Freaking hammer in my direction and call it an accident," Bucky growled out, careful of his language for the second time only because Lila tugged down on his arm. Well, it was a step, maybe not as far as he could have gone but better than staying where they were or making it worse. Tony nodded, understanding that he screwed up royally with Bucky and that it would be a long, long time before they could ever even start to trust each other. Now they both understood the chasm between them and luckily, for Steve and the Avengers and the world, they were willing to try and close that chasm.

With Bucky willing to help out as well, Tony turned his attention to the speedster who had only been an Avenger along side Clint. Seeing the genius staring at him, Pietro shifted his weight uneasily. Everyone had had different reactions to him be there. Considering his double's interactions with Tony, Pietro couldn't be sure how the genius would react to him now.

"So, uh... You lived," Tony muttered, nodding his head toward the boy. Wanda paled at those words and moved away from the group, needing her distance. Steve frowned, giving the genius a disgusted look before shaking his head and following after the girl. Bucky shook his head as well before ushering the kids back into the RV in an attempt to start getting ready to move. Laura frowned at Tony and didn't move until her kids walked past, then she began helping Bucky get them inside and headed in to clean up a bit from the start of making lunch. Clint slowly got to his feet with Arrow's help and Pietro hurried over to his side. The teen's offer of help was dismissed with a wave as Tony watched them closely. Once Clint and Pietro focused on him, the genius couldn't help but shrug. "What?"

"Not technically. I uh... Was never in Sokovia with the Avengers," Pietro mentioned as if it should be completely obvious by now. Now it was Tony's turn to frown. That was not what the genius had expected to hear. Clint gave out a sigh that sounded more like a groan of pain.

"What?" Tony couldn't help but call out again. Clint now rolled his eyes as he shifted away from Pietro to get a better disappointed look in. Pietro shrugged, almost like he really didn't care.

"That other reality that I mentioned a while back, he's from there," Clint told the genius, sick and tired of having to explain that he wasn't mentally insane and that he had been telling the truth all those years ago. Tony opened his mouth, paused and then slowly closed his mouth but still didn't say anything. Clint waited and watched as Tony did it again. And then again. Feeling like he had 'broken' the genius, Clint forced himself to continue on. "I didn't want to tell anyone when it first happened in case it was permanent. By the time I realized he wasn't going away, none of you guys believed me or were willing to talk to me period. Also, he's not related to Wanda in any way."

"Huh," Tony replied, unsure exactly what to say in this moment. It was hard enough getting over the fact that Pietro was standing before him, never mind that this Pietro was from an alternative reality, that there indeed was multiple realities and that this Pietro wasn't Wanda's sibling. Clint shifted, the pain in his chest finally beginning to diminish even though Arrow seemed increasingly worried.

"Pietro willingly stayed at the farm this entire time. He didn't want to be an Avenger," Clint added, having had many discussions with the teen about the idea. But Pietro had more warning about the Avenger's future than Clint ever did and there was no way he wanted to deal with all that. Tony frowned again, confused on what to say now. Pietro looked down at the ground in shame.

"I'm willing to help," Pietro stated, drawing Clint's gaze on him. The teen shrugged even as Clint's eyes softened and he nodded his head in 'thanks'. Then Pietro focused back on Tony. The genius was also giving his a soft thankful smile. Pietro sighed. "Honestly, I highly doubt there really is any Avengers anymore."

* * *

Three months later, Clint sat down on a rock wall after a hard days work and stared lovingly at the finally finished home. Thor had spoken to the many people with him and gotten suggestions for each family on what they wanted in their new homes. Designs had been made, in fact, Tony (with the help of FRIDAY, Vision, and some contractors) had designed the whole city. Each home was already predetermined as to where it would be placed, who owned it and even how much yard space they'd get. Not many wanted yard space as Asgard hadn't had much room for it to begin with and not many were interested.

This home that Clint had just finished was destined for a family of five. He didn't specifically know the genders of each person but based on the room designs and painting of the walls, he had a guess. Actually, this home wasn't much different from his farm house before he started messing around with it's design to fit more inside it.

"That one done?" Steve called, slowly walking over. Clint glanced toward the man with a soft smile.

"Yeah, just put the final touches on it," Clint replied, getting to his feet. Steve waved him back down and the archer reluctantly sat. His chest had been bothering him for the past hour and sitting had always helped. For once, Clint regretted having to leave Arrow with Laura and the kids. Having the dog near him always told the archer how bad the attack was going to be and even how long it would last. Without the dog, Clint could only pray that it'd not get worse and be over soon.

"Good," Steve commented, nodding his head as he turned to look at the finished home. In the short amount of time that the Avengers had to build this city, they were astonishingly close to being finished. Between the rebuilt Iron Legion, the Avengers and various contractors and outsourced builders, the group was maybe only another month or two in finishing New Asgard.

"Tony get any news on when Thor is arriving with everyone?" Clint wondered. It had been a question on everyone's mind. The ship had been steadily getting closer and closer to Earth but no one had a definitive date as to when it would finally arrive. Smartly, everyone decided to build the homes first before focusing on the other community buildings like libraries, schools, city hall, and the like.

"Actually they're estimating around a week or two from now," Steve happily answered. Clint smiled. Just enough time to finish the last few houses and get some general stores open. "Tony is nearly dancing with glee. He thinks that Thor might give him some sort of title for all the work he put in."

"Once Thor finds out about the civil war, Tony's gonna be begging to a kingly pardon," Clint joked. Steve chuckled hoarsely. It had been tough on the Captain dealing with his two best friends so tense around each other. The man almost looked like at times he was dancing on coals.

"Yeah, knowing Thor," Steve said before sighing deeply and sitting down on the rock wall that Clint had been sitting on. For a few moments the duo just sat there, staring at the house, lost in their own thoughts. Then, Clint couldn't help but glance over at the Captain.

"You alright?" Clint wondered. Steve sighed deeply.

"To be honest, no," Steve muttered. Clint frowned.

"I thought things were getting better with Buck and Tony," Clint stated with a confused look. Steve sighed again and nodded.

"They are. Still can't be near each other without someone else but it's gotten much better. But... There is something else. Something is gonna happen soon," Steve mumbled. Clint's frowned deepened. Last time Steve had said that, Clint nearly lost everything.

"I hate when someone says that."

* * *

 **Don** **'t kill me... I know... It's been literally forever since I last posted... Honestly, I went into a depressive mood swing that turned to a really bad anxiety issue that I've just now been starting to clear out of. Personal life also got a bit in the way and made it hard to find time to work on anything, including cleaning my house. Can't say if I'll be back with weekly posts, mostly cause I'm sick of promising and failing to deliver, but I can say I will never give up. Posts will come.**

 **Well, considering the date, Project New World is out and released into the world. (the main source of my anxiety) For those who said they'd be getting it! THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH! I hope everyone enjoys it. My husband read a copy to Clint and Darius a while back as we got some copies printed for us. They all loved it so much that they are begging me for the sequel... A sequel that I when I think about I get anxiety about and a sequel I can't begin cause I hardly remember anything from the first story as it was written so long ago. So, I am also currently rereading the book and taking notes so I can work on it's sequel.**

 **Clint and Darius are doing well. Growing so big and so fast. They are both big sports fans. Clint is into football and soccer so bad while Darius seems taken with baseball. Sucks for me as I've had bad history with sports so I don't care for any at all. Trying to get more interested in them for the boys but it's hard. Clint has taken to 'tackling' Darius day and night while Darius will grab any long object and round object to try and self play baseball. Both events normally happen in the house or out at my husband's job. *sigh* Can't wait till they understand it's dangerous to do indoors and to listen to mommy when she says cut it out.**

 ***As this is getting long and I have received a great many likes, follows, and reviews, I will sadly be skipping them in this chapter. I will be doing it again next chapter. Thank you all! LOVE YOU!**


	6. New Asgard

CHAPTER 6: New Asgard

The next few weeks went by in such a blindingly fast pace of action and work that Clint didn't even notice the increasing frequency of his chest pain. In fact, no one tended to notice as they were all so busy doing this and that around the whole new city. With the Asgardians due to show up at any second it was nice to see that 90 percent of the homes had been fully completed. So now, Clint stood at the edge of 'New Asgard,' looking out over the landscape that Tony, James Rhodes and Vision had instructed Thor to land his spaceship on. Gently rubbing his chest, Clint stared out over the green field and wondered if it was large enough to fit the ship that Thor had described and NASA had been following.

"Can you believe that they're almost here?" Wanda called, her voice startling Clint out of his reprieve. Trying his best to cover his surprise at her appearance, Clint turned to look at her with a soft smile on his face. Thankfully she wasn't looking at him, she was instead looking out over the landing plot as well. A group of twenty volunteers were waiting in a group at the edge of the plot, closer than Clint and Wanda. They were the welcoming party and the ones who are going to tell each Asgardian what home was theirs.

"You excited?" the archer asked. Wanda surprised him by suddenly blushing and looking away. That made an eyebrow raise in curiosity. She knew something he didn't. "Really?"

"I... I don't know. Just... The closer the ship gets here, the more... Excited I get. Something on that ship is almost calling out to me," Wanda mentioned, trying to find the right way to explain how she felt about the whole thing. Clint couldn't help but shudder as a cold chill ran swiftly over his spine. Something that happened more and more whenever Wanda was near and the nearer the ship got. It was like that same thing was calling to him in a much darker way. Wanda winced even as Clint quickly turned away from her. "Sorry."

"No... It's... It's fine. I've almost felt the same way. Just... Not excited about it," Clint replied, confused as to how exactly he felt about it all. Wanda nodded as if she knew exactly how the archer felt. Clint sighed and glanced up toward the sky. If there was something on that ship that called out to both of them, Clint wondered if he should actually stay around for it to get him.

"They'll be here soon," Wanda commented, almost like she was trying to warn the archer away. Clint couldn't help but nod. Like her, he could feel it. His chest ached a bit more and his anxiety was slowly starting to increase like something was wrong but he couldn't place it. Desperately he wanted Arrow to be by his side but Laura had mentioned that not many Asgardians would find the pup friendly. Clint was forced to agree as Steve and a few others shared his wife's opinion. Never mind that Arrow seemed to be going completely nuts whenever Clint neared. A few moments passed in silence before slowly the others began to join them.

Pietro was the first. Almost as if he could sense something was bothering Clint, the teen just suddenly appeared at the archer's side. Clint ignored him even as Wanda nodded a greeting. The two had gotten almost as close as they used to be with their sibling but there was still a noticeable gap in their relationship. Vision appeared next, slowly floating over to Wanda's side like a creepy purple ghost. Clint still hadn't gotten used to hearing JARVIS's voice coming from the android's form without thinking of Ultron and this reality's Pietro's death. Bucky and Steve came to join them after Vision. Steve offered a verbal greeting which everyone but Clint returned. Bucky nudged the archer playfully in the back but Clint simply shifted in his seat and stared at the slowly darkening sky. Sam Wilson, one of the few who decided to continue with the Avengers after the Civil War, joined after that and whispered 'on your left' to Steve. Bucky was the only one who laughed at the joke that had slowly spread through the group. Tony and Rhodey were the last to come up. And they arrived just in time.

"They're here," Clint creepily sung out over the low whine of large overtaxed engines. The sound steadily got louder as Wanda shuddered at the tone making Vision place an arm over her shoulder. Pietro and Bucky laughed at the words while Steve frowned. Sam rolled his eyes while Rhodey sighed and Tony reached over to gently smack the archer with a snort.

"That doesn't sound creepy at all," the genius commented. Clint smirked, enjoying the moment in an effort to release some of the tension that had entered his body at the strange call to the ship and his increasingly painful chest. It worked until the cloud cover broke and the dark blue hull appeared above the vacant landing zone. Everyone stared in shock before Tony let out a half hearted laugh, "Wow. That actually made it?"

"You didn't think it would?" Steve wondered, curiously glancing over at the genius. Tony shrugged as he analyzed the bits and pieces he could see of the ship.

"Kinda reminds me of the Iron Man Mark one," Clint joked. The others laughed while Tony turned to the archer.

"Oh, ha ha," Tony snarled, making Clint chuckle at him. "See if I finish making you that apology uniform."

"Told ya before, I don't need one. Retired," Clint muttered, rolling his eyes. Tony snorted.

"Yeah. You looked pretty retired in Germany," the genius retorted, a hint of resentment lacing his tone. Clint again rolled his eyes. They had had this discussion before while building New Asgard. Tony had learned why everyone made their choice and understood it to some degree, but of anyone, Tony seemed to enjoy picking on Clint about it the most. Maybe due to Tony having adopting Clint those years beforehand or just due to their overall closeness. Most of the others defended him, Rhodey and Vision included, but Clint knew that the idea of being on opposite sides bothered the genius more than even he wanted to admit.

"Tony, enough," Steve finally reprimand. The poor Captain had become the middle man in many of the fights involving Tony. Clint had warned Steve numerous times that he should stop and let Tony get what the genius deserved but Steve just couldn't. Heck, Clint wasn't the only one who warned Steve to stop. Nearly everyone had. Steve had just argued that he was still their leader, their Captain and while Tony never tended to listen to him, the others couldn't help but obey him.

Silence lulled over the group as they watched the ship slowly moving closer to the landing spot. It almost was like whoever was flying it was afraid of damaging anything nearby. And while it was nice to see, it also meant that it was taking nearly three times as long as needed for the ship to land. The fliers of the group seemed most anxious the more time it took.

"Should we be doing anything to help?" Pietro called, twitching a small hole in the dirt where he stood. Clint got to his feet, the action looking far more painful than Clint wanted the others to see. Pietro was at his side in a flash as everyone turned their attention to him. "You okay old man?"

"Yeah, just tired," Clint scowled, accidentally leaking his anger at the young speedster. Pietro frowned, sadly used to Clint snapping at him over minuscule things like hovering over him. But Pietro couldn't help it. Clint was like a father to him now The archer was Pietro's whole world and nearly whole concern. So the teen was uber protective of the archer to the point that they tended to fight like cats and dogs. The others frowned at the interaction but knew how Clint was. If he needed help, he'd tell them.

"I think they have everything handled," Sam answered finally, trying to make it seem like Clint's painful moment never happened. He wasn't one to butt too much into other people's issues unless they wanted it and Clint certainly didn't want it. Pietro glanced at Sam with a skeptical look even as a loud screeching of grinding metal made everyone stop and stare at the landing ship. Sam winced, feeling as if the ship was trying to prove him wrong. "Sides, what would you do to help that?"

Pietro turned to look the ship over. The grinding metal was apparently an attempt at getting the ship's main door open, but the gears were damaged in an apparent fight. It landed smoothly with a dull sounding _boom_ as dust and dirt flew up into the air in a fast moving plume. The plume headed directly for the waiting heroes and the newly build city beyond them. As it drew closer, Vision went intangible, Wanda threw up a mental shield blocking most of the group near her and some of the city while Pietro started running the length of the field back and forth, creating a wall of wind that stopped the items from hitting the rest of the city. Once it all settled, Sam scoffed when Pietro stopped in front of him.

"Well, yeah. Guess you could do that." Steve chuckled and walked around his friend, patting the man on his shoulder. Sam turned to look at him.

"Brings a whole new meaning to 'on your left' doesn't it?" the Captain joked. Sam blanched as he thought about racing Pietro and Steve. It was bad enough that Steve and his morning jog had Bucky slowly join followed by the others who also outran him but Pietro had never joined them.

"Uh uh! If we're ever racing, he's always on my team!" Sam retorted even as Steve laughed and headed off to the slowly settling and crumbling ship. Clint shook his head at their antics even as the group began to break off to go greet the Asgardians. Someone was inside the hold of the ship, fighting to free the door and the sound echoed over the city. Soon only Wanda, Pietro and Clint remained. Wanda and Pietro exchanged looks as Clint suddenly grimaced. Since the ship landed, his pain had gotten even worse. He was getting close to needing to ask for help.

"You sure you okay?" Pietro questioned, suddenly standing beside the archer. Clint nearly fell on his ass as he jerked back in surprise. He was caught by Wanda, who had anticipated that Clint hadn't realized they remained behind.

"Yeah, you don't seem well," she commented, helping Clint steady himself. The archer couldn't help but frown. He hadn't noticed it was getting that noticeable to the others around him that he was having an issue. Sighing, he allowed more of his pain to show through. Seeing that, Wanda and Pietro exchanged more worried glances. Behind Clint's back, the others had all mentioned times when they noticed Clint was in pain but never complaining. If he was finally going to admit it, that meant it was really bad.

"My chest has been bugging me on and off for a while," the hawk admitted, glad to finally reveal it to someone. He had thought only Arrow had noticed the pain he was in but over the past few weeks, the others had been slowly putting the pieces together. Sadly, no one but Arrow was as concerned about it as they should have been.

"A while?" Wanda skeptically quoted. Clint couldn't stop the grimace as his attempt at a laugh made his pain worse for half a second. Wanda neared him and her hands fluttered red for a second but Pietro made a negative sound and she backed off. "How long is a while?"

"Uh... A year or more," Clint mumbled, slowly moving to sit back down on the wall he had occupied before. Pietro and Wanda shifted to help and then stood, facing him. Clint sighed as he looked up at their now worried and concerned faces. This was why he never liked asking for help or admitting he was in pain. People tended to make it seem worse than it really was. Needing a distraction, Clint looked past the duo to watch the Asgardians slowly disembark from their now opened ship. Most of them, like Thor and Loki, were humanoid, but some were quite different. The person, or alien, that had finally opened the hatch looked a but like a thinner, grayer and slightly taller version of the Thing from the Fantastic Four. Clint briefly wondered if they were related and Ben Grimm was some sort of half alien child rather than a mutation of science.

"A year!" Wanda squeaked in outrage. Clint winced, his mind snapping back to the two teens standing over him. Wanda looked both outraged and horrified at the prospect of not having seen this sooner. Pietro looked betrayed and worried. For a moment, Clint felt his own anger surge through him and he almost snapped at Wanda to back off but in the end, cooler heads prevailed and he just looked to the ground.

"It's nothing. Just some minor aches," Clint said, trying to mollify the situation. Wanda gave the archer another skeptical look even as Pietro scoffed. Clint couldn't stop but look up at the teen's angered expression.

"From what?"

"Well, I am an old man," Clint mocked. Wanda tried to stop her snort before it passed. For a moment, Pietro just stared at the archer then slowly a light blush appeared on his cheeks. This time, Wanda couldn't stop her snort of laughter. Clint even smirked at the teen.

"Oh, ha ha!" the speedster replied. Clint chuckled, starting to either get used to the pain or it was starting to die down but suddenly he was feeling a bit better. He looked again to the space ship. The Asgardians were easily forming into family groups to be split into the newly built homes and volunteers were rushing about getting their information and placing them. Steve headed to each person, greeting them all in some fashion. Sam and Bucky walked beside him, almost like guards of some kind, but they also greeted everyone. Tony, Rhodey and Vision as worked with the volunteers, leading them as best as possible while greeting whoever over near them.

"We should probably head down there," Clint informed, nodding down to the large conglomerate of people. Wanda turned to look down before sighing and looking back at Clint with a mild frown. Pietro smirked and raised an eyebrow at Clint.

"Think you can make it? Old man?" the teen ribbed. Clint scoffed and took off at enough of a running jog to set Pietro running off down to the groups before stopping. He chuckled at Pietro's mini victory dance even as he turned to look back at Wanda a few steps away. She raised her own eyebrow at him. He groaned.

"Jesus Wanda! I'm fine!" Clint snapped before stubbornly setting off for the ship. Wanda let out a deep sigh.

"Famous last words."

* * *

Clint and Wanda arrived down at the landed ship just as it seemed like the last Asgardian family made it off the ship. As they progressed closer to the ship, Clint tried to hide the increase in pain he felt in his chest. But Wanda could sense it. Even though she was trying to block her powers from focusing on Clint, the pain he was in was so immense that even without powers, anyone nearby might be able to tell something was wrong with the archer. Pietro must have either seen it from afar or Wanda gave him some sort of call for help cause suddenly he was beside the archer, supporting him without actually showing to anyone else that he was. Clint, for his part, actually seemed grateful for the help. A true sign of how serious this was.

When the trio were only a few yards away, Bucky turned and noticed them. Knowing how Clint was as a person, Bucky could tell something must truly be bothering him, especially for him to be showing it. Frowning, he nudged Sam beside him to get the new part time medic (much to Sam's consternation as he only helped people with their mental issues, not physical) to turn and look as well. Having discussed the team with Steve before, Sam knew that Clint wasn't one to rely on help from others and was immediately concerned when he saw Pietro close enough to possibly help Clint move. He couldn't stop his gasp of surprise which alerted Steve to something happening behind him.

"Clint?" he called in surprise at seeing the state of the archer. Clint waved him off as Tony, Rhodey and Vision also looked over. Tony frowned at the sight but figured Clint knew what he was doing and turned back to the volunteer he was helping direct. Rhodey glanced at Tony before moving to see if he could offer any help but Pietro shook his head no and Rhodey understood that Clint was barely accepting his help. Vision floated over to Wanda in curiosity as she seemed to look more upset than Clint did and he wanted to understand. They drifted off a few steps to have a private conversation about the state that Clint was in. With a frown of disappointment, Steve turned back to the ship in time to see the empty doorway fill with a mass of green.

"HULKIE!" Tony loudly greeted to his friend, detaching himself from the volunteer as if the person was a piece of trash. With a frown, Rhodey quickly took his place. Hulk jerked around, searching for the source of the voice before settling on the group that was slowly starting to gather off to the side of the ship. Seeing people he recognized, Hulk carelessly moved forward, hitting his head on the top of the entrance in the process. Not knowing how well he was doing, everyone tensed, ready for an angry Hulk but what they got instead was a slender hand from the darkness placing itself on Hulk and him calmly turning to it, listening as the owner said something to him softly.

"Did that just happen?" Clint whispered just as Tony and Steve traded a look. They had only ever seen Natasha calm Hulk down that fast and that was only when she was dating Bruce. Clint's words must have carried as Hulk suddenly looked back up at his friends with a smile that the trio had never seen. The others with them tensed, wondering how the green guy would react. But Hulk simply looked the group over before his smile dimmed and he focused solely on Clint as he began to move down toward them.

"Red?" the giant asked. As he moved everyone got a good look at the owner of the slender hand. It was a woman with a slightly darker skin tone and dark hair. She, like Natasha, seemed to have a dangerous air about her. In her other hand was a full glass bottle that one could only guess what was inside. She took a long chug, downing it all in one go before following after Hulk. Tony raised an eyebrow, determined to get the woman's name soon.

"No, sorry. Natasha isn't here," Clint informed the green guy, knowing that's who he was asking for. Tony and Steve stiffened wondering if that would upset him. Clint shrugged his shoulders, trying his hardest to give off an air of indifference but the pain was so much worse standing before the ship. Figuring it best to change to subject, Tony stepped forward slightly.

"Who cares about her? How was SPACE!? I'm so jealous that you beat me there! Must have been awesome!" Tony gushed, ignoring his small time in space during the Battle of Manhattan.

"Space big, dark, cold," Hulk described, his voice much rougher and harsher than before. Everyone but Tony could hear that he was annoyed with the genius. Thankfully Hulk wasn't going to act on it. Tony must have made a face as the woman behind Hulk quickly placed a hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook like she was hiding her laughter.

"Seriously? That's it? Three fucking words?" Tony nearly growled, insulted that Hulk wasn't going to give him the better details. Hulk shrugged, unsure what else Tony wanted from him. Space was as he described. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, the places he visited like Sakaar and Asgard were a different matter. Tony must have sensed that. "Okay then... What about Asgard? Is it everything Thor says it to be?"

"Wolf mean. Teeth hurt," Hulk grunted, unconsciously rubbing one of the many spots that Fenrir had bit him. Tony's mouth dropped in shock. That hadn't answered anything. Clint let out a chuckle that quickly turned into a cough as Pietro snorted and then worked to support the archer better. Steve shook his head, knowing this information would upset Tony more. Bucky let out a gruff laugh as Sam rolled his eyes. Rhodey slid his left hand down his face as Vision tiled his head curiously. Wanda let out a laugh before glancing over at Vision. Seeing his confusion at the situation she decided to take pity and explain it all to him.

"That tends to happen when they bite you," Clint coughed out, trying to calm himself and focus better on hiding the pain that was slowly increasing with each passing second. Hulk's smile returned. Out of everyone, Clint was likely the only one to have ever been bit by a wolf. So he knew what Hulk was talking about, even if the wolves did not match in size at all. Tony huffed, turning away from Hulk to hide his betrayal in an air of disinterest.

"Fine, don't tell me. See if I let you play in your new room," the genius stated as if he could seriously stop Hulk from doing whatever the green guy wanted. Hulk snarled suddenly and took an angered step forward. After everything, people still wanted to contain him. People he considered friends.

"NO ROOM! NO LULLABY!" Hulk roared. Tony stepped back, hands raised in defense as the others got ready for a potential battle. But again the woman stepped forward and placed a hand on Hulk and he calmed. Not that it made a difference as she was now readily glaring at the group.

"Woah there Big Guy! You don't have to do anything you don't want. Thor told me you stay out more, that's fine!" Tony quickly amended not realizing everything Hulk had been through could have scared the giant just like any normal man or woman. Hulk's eyes narrowed at the genius as if considering if Tony was lying or not. Finally coming to the conclusion that Tony was being honest, Hulk nodded. "Just ah... Try not to smash anything."

"Hulk careful now," Hulk hissed, offended that Tony didn't trust him. The man used to trust him before. In fact, Hulk remembered all the times that Tony tried to egg Puny Banner into letting him out. While Banner never really listened, Hulk felt like Tony trusted him. Now he wondered if it was more that Tony trusted Banner to keep Hulk down.

Clint backed up a step as Tony changed the subject and asked about the woman at Hulk's side. Hulk introduced her as 'Angry Girl' which Clint normally would have found funny but the pain in his chest felt like his heart was being ripped into four pieces. Wanda and Pietro were at his side faster than anyone could blink, not that they were paying any attention. Well, Vision glanced down briefly but figured it was a more private affair.

"You okay?" Wanda whispered, concern lacing her voice. Clint grunted a noncommittal response as the others trailed off in conversation with 'Angry Girl'. Apparently she was actually a Valkyrie and she wanted to be called such. Tony deemed her Val just to be stubborn and considering she didn't reject the name, the others went with it as well. "Clint, I think we should get you back to Laura and the kids."

"I'm fine," the archer muttered unconvincingly. Wanda looked over his head and to Pietro who looked back. They could tell that something about this latest attack meant it was the end.

"Clint please," Wanda begged, looking back down at him. "Something is really wrong here."

"Listen to Wanda. She knows what she's talking about," Pietro mumbled, trying to pick the archer up. Clint shook his head and kneeled down harder on the ground. Pietro almost tumbled over at the force he exerted. They locked gazes.

"Pietro, promise me that if something happens you'll take care of Laura and the kids. They've gotten really close to you," Clint softly told the boy. Pietro paled and realized that Clint understood as well as Wanda about what was happening. There was nothing anyone could do at this point.

"Clint," Pietro sobbed lightly. Clint shook his head.

"Promise me, Pietro! Watch over them!" Clint insisted. Slowly, Pietro nodded as if these were Clint's last words ever.

"Clint please! Let me do something," Wanda moaned, her powers flaring slightly as if to prove she could help. But Clint had thought it over. Something about this was different and he wasn't sure Wanda would be able to handle it alone. He shook his head and went to speak just as the pain increased ten fold and a familiar voice called out from the ship.

"FRIENDS!" boomed the voice. Everyone focused back on the ship to see Thor and a strange man standing in the entrance way. A low moan from somewhere inside the ship were the signal to get Thor and the man to start moving down to the others. Steve and Tony stepped forward to greet the thunderer better.

"Good to see you Thor," Steve greeted. Thor got only two more steps down before Clint couldn't hold it back anymore. His scream of pain drowned out another low groan from the ship and made everyone but one person freeze. A third and final form emerged from the ship, stopping just in the entrance.

"THOR! GET BACK HERE!" Loki roared. The trickster's voice had everyone unfreeze. Thor and the strange man rushed back to the entrance, allowing Clint to sag in relief. Wanda and Pietro quickly curled around the archer, checking for signs of further injury or distress. Steve and Tony dropped into attack postures upon seeing Loki. Sam and Bucky, understanding that Clint and the twins needed better protection, shifted to block them from the Asgardians. Rhodey, who had kept his armor close in case the Army called, called upon his suit and with Vision at his side, the duo flew up to get a higher vantage point on the group. Hulk and Val looked between the two groups not fully understanding what was happening and who they should side with.

"LOKI! WHAT THE HELL?" Tony cried, unsure what was more shocking, the undead Loki or that Clint was in enough pain to actually cry out. Figuring Loki must have caused the pain in Clint, the genius focused on the trickster. "What the hell did you do?"

"I did nothing!" Loki snapped, ready to defend himself. Sadly he wouldn't get that far for as soon as he finished speaking the groups froze again in time to hear two quick explosions coming from somewhere inside the ship and then seconds later a third right behind the entrance and the three Asgardians went flying into the air. Clint's scream of agony was lost in the sounds of the explosions and of the trio getting launched away. But everyone else watched as no sooner then a few seconds later, four bodies collapsed.

* * *

 **So... I'm really sorry to leave it at this... Hopefully I can get back to this soon but...**

 ***WARNING DEPRESSING NEWS***

 **As of November 8th, 2018, Clint Barton Brauneis has passed away. He was home with Darius, my husband and myself. It... We have no idea exactly what happened. Just know that Wednesday morning he woke up with a really bad wet sounding cough. He wasn't acting himself but still asked to go to school. Was released from school early and soon brought to a nearby hospital. As of this moment, I blame this hospital staff for not doing enough or warning my husband and myself of how dire Clint's situation was. We went home, kept Clint downstairs on the couch as sitting up helped his breathing more than laying down. My husband last saw him alive at definitely 12:15, Thursday morning but possibly had a brief conversation at around 3. By 5 am, my husband woke me up saying he couldn't wake Clint. I ran downstairs to our bathroom to find him face down on the floor, cold and already stiff in many places. 911 didn't even really attempt to revive him, he had been gone far too long. We will not find out what truly happened to our baby for another 6 to 10 months as the system is backed up and sucks ass.**

 **Darius has no true understanding of what happened to his brother. We recently buried Clint and tried to explain to Darius that Clint was never coming home again. Hopefully one day he will understand what happened but for now, my husband and I are slightly thankful that Darius doesn't understand and doesn't ask us much about Clint.**

 **My husband is doing okay, considering. He spent a long while blaming himself for falling asleep and not trusting his own instincts that something was wrong. But we are all lost in the idea of missing Clint and unable to believe that this truly happened to our family.**

 **I've been spending much of this time in denial. Waiting for the moment I wake from this nightmare and see my boy's happy smile. It's been hard and only getting harder and life starts pushing us to move forward without him. Thankfully I have a large support system and found an amazing therapist who went above and beyond her duty to help me through some of the tougher days.**

 **For until I can get the courage and time to come back, I apologize to leave you all at this cliffhanger but pray that I can quickly come back. Writing has always been a therapy tool but having the main character I focus on sharing the same name as my boy is going to be hard for a while. Thank you all for keeping with me and hope to see you all when I do finally return.**


	7. Damn You!

CHAPTER 7 - Damn You!

"What the hell just happened?" Tony shouted, moving away from the destruction of what had once been the Asgardian's ship. Steve, shifting through the rubble to make sure he could find everyone who had been near, shrugged, glancing up at the slowly rising Asgardians a good distance away.

"CLINT!" Pietro screamed, dragging the archer's pale and unmoving body further from the rubble that had nearly crushed him and the twins. Once deemed a safe distance away, Pietro's form blurred as he quickly checked the body over for any signs of injury. Upon finding none, Pietro began softly begging Clint to wake up.

"Jesus Christ," Rhodey cussed softly in his suit, slowly lowering himself back down to ground level. He knew all too well what a dead body looked like and there was no getting around the paleness and stillness of the archer. Sam moved closer, as if his limited training could do anything to help the situation. Bucky turned his head away and focused on the Asgardians slowly coming toward them. He couldn't stare at the body of the man who had become as close to him as Steve was.

"No..." Steve half begged, half sobbed unsure if he should help Pietro and Sam or go help Thor, Loki and the other man with them. Hearing Steve speak, Sam turned to face him. He sadly shook his head as Tony turned to see it as well. Wanda let out a sob that she had been holding back, praying that her powers were wrong. Knowing the truth, she turned to run but Vision had drifted back down behind her and all she did was plow into him before gripping his chest and crying. Unsure what else to do, Vision wrapped an arm around to support her as he listened on. Thor and Loki arrived back at the group in time for Hulk to suddenly let out a deafing roar that made the original Avengers flash back to the Battle of Manhattan. When he stopped, Hulk looked down smugly at Clint. He was surprised when the archer didn't move.

"Arrow?" Hulk grumbled, confused. Val placed a hand on his green arm and once she got his attention, moved him away so that she could explain what happened. Hulk had seen death but had never seen it happen to someone he knew and it was confusing to learn that it could happen to anyone at any time. Thor and Loki made it back to the group in time to hear Hulk's sorrowful cry of pain and despair. Tony sprinted forward, his armor appearing from seemingly nowhere, before he jumped onto Loki and knocked the prince down. The Asgardians around lunged forward but were halted by the strange man holding out a hand to stop them.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Tony roared at the trickster. Loki quickly and easily tossed the armored man off himself. Thor was quick to jump in front of his brother to stop him from hurting the Avengers and vise versa.

"I told you mortals before! I DID NOTHING!" Loki screamed back at Tony, pushing past Thor in an act that silently said he didn't want or need his help. There was a pause as everyone waited for someone to act. When no one did anything, Loki sighed and glanced back at Thor. "Did you feel it?"

"What?" Thor asked, having not paid any attention. Loki rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Tony snapped, getting to his feet and aiming his palms at the trickster. Thor moved to block the attempted attack but Loki held out a hand and stopped him. Loki glanced back at Thor, ignoring the Avengers who looked ready to attack.

"Our sister's energy," Loki hissed, annoyed at him. Thor frowned before closing his eyes in an attempt to focus on the various energies around. He wasn't as good at this as Loki or some others but he had fought Hela enough to recognize her energy.

"Hela? But, she died on Asgard!" Val cried. Loki ignored her and watched as Thor's eyes snapped open in surprise. Honestly at this point no one should believe anyone was dead unless they actually saw the unmoving body clear as day.

"It... It can't be," Thor mumbled, looking at Loki for confirmation. Loki gave him a look that questioned Thor's intelligence. It was a look that Thor was very much used too.

"What are you two talking about?" Steve questioned, moving to block Tony from involving himself any more. Tony lifted the face plate of his armor and glared at the Captain.

"I believe our sister laid a curse on Barton," Loki replied, nodding his head to the prone form.

"Uh, I'm sorry but since when did you have a sister?" Tony mocked, still unsure what to do or think of anything that was going on. Loki rolled his eyes before looking back at Thor. Thor sighed. While he had been in contact with Tony, he had been hesitant about giving full details about what happened. He mostly focused on the urgent need of a safe haven for the now misplaced people of Asgard.

"You know of Asgard being destroyed. This happened from a woman named Hela Odindottir," Thor explained. He paused for half a second to allow everyone to digest that information. "Hela is our older sister. She was bloodthirsty and Odin realized that he could not let her stay in Asgard. Before I was born, Odin locked her away, using magic to keep her imprisoned."

"How did she get out?" Sam asked, moving to get away from Clint's body.

"The All-Father is dead," called the strange man. Everyone looked to him.

"Heimdall," Thor muttered, nodding his head before turning back to his friends. Loki scoffed and looked away from everyone. "Yes. Father is dead. Upon his death, Hela was freed."

"Odin passed away earlier this year, correct?" Wanda mumbled, finally done sobbing. She looked up and stared at Loki. The trickster focused back on her. Together they silently communicated. "This Hela must have laid the curse around the time of being freed. Clint mentioned that he had been suffering chest pains in increasing frequency for about that long."

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. She was released from her prison right before Thor and myself. Her first instinct would be to figure out a way to keep us under control in the future," Loki answered.

"But when could she have done it and how?" Steve inquired, not understanding much about magic but always willing to learn something new. Loki shrugged.

"Not much we can do about it now. What has been done is done," the trickster tactlessly said. Amazingly that didn't cause anyone to lash out and attack him. Steve glanced over at Tony a few seconds later to see why he hadn't reacted. He was stunned to see Tony in what looked like the midst of a panic attack. Somehow he must have signaled something because suddenly Rhodey and Sam were by the genius, gently leading him away from the area. They were trying to soothe him with platitudes but nothing seemed to be working well. Steve sighed.

"Why now? What is so important about this moment?" he wondered, mostly to himself.

"Both Thor and I are here and we both have a connection to Barton," Loki replied.

"Brother?" Thor curiously called. Loki shrugged.

"Soon after I was imprisoned myself, Odin sensed that the staff had left a minor connection to Agent Barton and myself. No matter how hard any of the mystics on Asgard tried, we could not be rid of this connection," Loki explained, not understanding how upsetting this news was. Steve paled at this news and he glanced over at Tony once again, glad that the billionaire was not within earshot anymore.

"Is that the magic hidden in him?" Wanda whispered. Loki frowned, trying to remember what Clint felt like in the moments he had met the archer before using the Chitauri staff was used. "Something enhanced his natural magic, something he couldn't stand talking about it."

"It might be... I don't know. I never paid much attention to him until I had him under control. But I wouldn't be surprised. Barton was the strongest mind under my control. I had to fight him consistently to get him to act the way I wanted," Loki surmised. Wanda nodded, partially relived by the news.

"He always said he could still feel a connection between you two," Steve mumbled, looking down sadly at the body. Bucky stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You couldn't have known," Bucky told him. Loki's frown deepened. He hadn't felt the connection himself until Odin pointed it out. Barton could sense it on his own? As one not trained in magic, Loki was surprised that Clint could actually do that. He almost wondered if it was more paranoia rather than actually sensing the connection that made Clint complain.

"So, is there really nothing that can be done?" Tony suddenly called to the group, his voice sounding much meeker and sadder than anyone, including Rhodey, had ever heard before. Vision tilted his head curiously again. With JARVIS's memories, he knew that Tony and Clint had been close, well. Like family considering Clint was actually Barton-Stark, but the android never imagined Tony would take this so hard.

"She'll pay for this," Thor hissed angrily.

"Your Highness, the people," Heimdall gently reminded. Thor glanced back at the guardian before nodding. Loki scoffed.

"I for one intend to attack Hela. She has gone too far. First Asgard and now this slight. I will use this as a means of war," Loki snarled. Thor glanced back at his brother and smiled gently.

"Yes, she needs to be destroyed for the safety of all our people. She needs to be destroyed," Thor diplomatically agreed. Loki gave the thunderer a side long look of surprise. He hadn't thought that Thor had grown much over the years since his coronation but apparently the trickster was wrong. Loki had to say, now Thor was ready to lead.

"Asgard is not the only group she attacked with this. She also attacked the Avengers," Wanda stubbornly stated, moving away from Vision and closer to Pietro. The speedster nodded. Everyone watched as red bands of power began to flair around Wanda's hands. Loki arched an eyebrow at the display but said nothing. Thor nodded, wishing that he could deal with this issue alone but Heimdall was right. The people of Asgard needed their new King to watch over their transition to Earth. "Clint has gone through too much for it to end like this. She'll learn her mistake in messing with us."

"Then, let us go in search of her now, before she can hide," Loki replied, an evil smile slowly appearing on his face. Wanda nodded and headed toward Loki.

"Wait! Seriously? That's it?" Tony shouted, now out of his panic attack and most of his grief. "Is everyone forgetting that he used to not be on our side?"

Loki quickly turned to glare angrily at Thor who dared to turn away from his brother in a sheepish manner. The trickster took a moment to wait before he groaned even more angrily at the thunderer. He should have known that Thor would never have told the Avengers the truth. It had shamed the Odin line.

"Did we miss something?" Rhodey asked, understanding the sibling rivalry looks even if he hadn't talked to his younger sister in years.

"Prince Loki was cleared of all his crimes on Midgard," Heimdall informed the group, knowing that Thor would never want to admit it to his friends and they likely wouldn't believe it coming from Loki himself. In fact, even as Heimdall stated it, most of the Avengers looked as though they either couldn't believe him or were upset by this news. Before things could get too far out of hand, Heimdall continued. "He, like your friend, had been under the control of another. The All-Father removed the control and the Prince explained all that had transpired."

"But, you said he had been imprisoned," Steve said, looking sharply over at Thor with a look of betrayal. Thor winced.

"Indeed, he was. For crimes committed before coming to Midgard. He was proven to have brought Frost Giants onto Asgard in an attempt to start a war. Also, he stole them into Father's sleeping chambers where upon he slaughtered their King. Those crimes were committed under his own control," Thor muttered. Loki huffed. He had explained his actions to Odin, he would not explain them again.

"As if a year in the hands of that beast wasn't punishment enough," the trickster mumbled under his breath. Thor grimaced. It was something Frigga had mentioned more than once in order to lighten Loki's sentence but Odin never agreed.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tony wondered. Thor slowly glanced down. Tony followed his gaze. No one could mistake that they all looked at the still form. "Oh."

"Barton was already having an issue dealing with my brother's attack and his actions involved in such. I felt it best if he knew that Loki could not get to him. What would it matter if Barton found out Loki was imprisoned for crimes beforehand over crimes he had a hand in?" Thor replied. Loki rolled his eyes and looked at the thunderer.

"Admit it. You feared for the Fury one's vengeance upon learned my crimes here were cleared of all wrong doing," the trickster snorted. Thor glanced away from everyone, the hint of red on his cheeks. There was a soft chuckle from all who had met Nick Fury as they imagined how he would have taken the news. Shaking his head once more, Loki focused solely on Tony. "Now, is that all? The woman and I must be going."

"Are we really going to send Wanda alone?" Sam asked curiously. If anyone else had asked it more than likely would have ended badly, but Sam asked in such a way that no one was all that offended.

"Wanda is well trained. She knows what she's doing," Pietro defended. Bucky and Steve nodded.

"If Wanda wants to go, she can. The rest of us are needed here. We need to show solidarity to the misplaced Asgardians, no offense Thor," Steve continued. Sam nodded, not really having an issue with the idea just curious if anyone was tempted to step up and go as well.

"Tis true. The Mighty Avengers standing by my side will help calm my people, especially given the many losses we suffered and if words spreads of Hela," Thor replied, his mind flashing to the realization that none of the Warriors Three survived Hela's initial attack. But thinking back even more, Thor had to wonder what happened to Lady Sif. No one mentioned her, not even Heimdall. And he certainly hadn't seen her on the ship. Had she died as well?

"So, just the witch and myself then," Loki reiterated. No one spoke but Wanda again moved closer to him. Smiling, he stepped up beside her. "Ready?"

Wanda had just enough time to nod before suddenly she and Loki whisked away in a flash of green.

* * *

Waking up was a grueling affair. Something was trying to keep him under and in a blissful black, but Clint knew he needed to wake. His mind urgently kept telling his body to pull itself out of rest. Bits and pieces still had that tingling numb sensation. Finally, after wrestling for what felt like hours, Clint was able to scrape open his eyelids. While his vision was blurry from his body's still demand of sleep, Clint could easily tell that he wasn't anywhere he knew. The room was a large cavernous space with little light coming through an opening at his feet. Without shifting, Clint knew there was a wall or stone or something to his left but open space to his right. Tilting his head slightly, he could see the stone wall on his right was a good fifteen feet away. The ceiling was something Clint couldn't see but he could almost sense that it was the same stone as the walls and floor around him. That's when it hit him. He was in a cave.

The spark of adrenalin that surged through Clint after that thought had all traces of numbness scattering away though his vision did not clear up yet. He nearly jumped into a sitting position and took a fast look about to confirm what he first thought. Even though his vision was still trying to clear itself away, Clint could see that he was right. This was a cave. The ceiling was a good twelve feet above his sitting position, so maybe about sixteen feet from floor to ceiling, and the stone shined lightly from the sunlight filtering through the first few feet of the cave. Clint was at least seven feet away from the cave entrance.

"What the..." Clint muttered, slowly and carefully moving to his feet. Focusing on the entrance, Clint was slightly shocked to see that there was nothing keeping him in the cave. No bars, doors, or heck, even a guard or something. It was quite literally a cave in god knows where that he was apparently supposed to be staying in. But... How had he gotten there? Thinking back as hard as he could, Clint last remembered being in dire pain as the Asgardian ship unloaded all it's passengers. Then... "Loki."

Fighting his own mind to remember every last detail of those final moments, Clint realized that, while yes he had indeed seen Loki, the trickster had little to do with his current situation. Someone else was in control of this little stunt. And that someone had some immense power. Frowning, he began wondering who he had pissed off recently. After listing a few names, Clint stopped trying.

"Fuck me," he cussed before looking up at the entrance. Nothing was stopping him so why not take off? Not really seeing a downside, Clint steadily but carefully made his way to the entrance. Like he originally thought, there was nothing visibly keeping him inside the cave. There wasn't even a magic effect that stopped him. So what stopped him? A searing, humid heat that made the wasteland beyond blurred with an odd sort of mist as it seemed the air itself boiled. Knowing that staying too close to that heat was bad, Clint backed up. He hadn't even gotten three feet near the actual entrance before the heat had him retreat but now he was six feet away and suddenly he realized how cold the cave actually was. It almost felt like an early winter day in New England. He shivered, finally noticing the beads of sweat that had formed on his body from the few seconds near the heat outside. For a moment, he just stared at the goosebumps that rapidly formed over his arms. Moaning, he looked toward the ceiling as if praying. "Why me?"

Realizing he was stuck in the cave for the moment, Clint took his chance to look around now that his vision was finally back to normal. Where he had laid only minutes earlier, a softly glowing moss covered a bit of the ground. The moss itself reminded Clint a bit of James Camron's _Avatar_ movie and he had a quick look over himself again to confirm that yes, he was indeed human. Focusing back on the area around his mossy bed, Clint finally noticed a ring of rocks a small distance away. In the center of it was a pile of ash as if that had been used as a makeshift fire pit. About three feet away from the pit was a collection of sticks, branches and logs of wood to be used in the pit. It looked as though someone had collected enough wood for at least one fire a day for three or four weeks.

Turning to look at the other side of the cave, the archer focused and noticed a worn path that headed deeper into the cave. A quick glance around, Clint noticed there was no food around. Sighing, he headed down the path. Distantly, he could tell that the further down the path he went and the deeper into the cave he went, the colder it got. It wasn't long before Clint could see the water particles in his breath freeze into a light mist. Shivering, the archer finally realized he was dressed in his normal S.H.I.E.L.D issued black cargo pants and a black wife beater. Cursing his luck again, Clint almost debated going back to his mossy bed. Then his stomach growled.

"Yeah, fuck you too," Clint replied to it before continuing down the path in hopes that it would end in some sort of food. Not much more time passed before Clint's shivering increased to the point it was getting hard to walk straight. Grunting, he trudged on. Just as he was about to turn back, the cave suddenly warmed. He paused just before a large cavern. Inside was some sort of animal that Clint couldn't even begin to describe. It was like a sheep, cow, and about five other animals mixed together. The sounds it made was similar to a grunting growl and it moved about, eating at what seemed to be some sort of bluish gray grass. Moving another step forward, Clint accidentally kicked something. Looking down, he noticed it was a man made bow with a bundle of arrows expertly made by Clint's own hands. He only knew that, cause he had always been more talented at making his arrows then he was his own bow. Taking a long look at the weapons, Clint then looked back up at the beast in the cavern. "Ah, hell no."

Doing some quick math, Clint knew that there was no way his arrows would ever be able to pierce that beast's hide with the self made bow. So what else could be down here? He waited for five minutes before looking around. On the wall next to the weapon was markings. Clint stared at them for a few seconds before understanding dawned on him. The markings on the wall were lines of where the sun rays hit. One marking was currently a sliver away from the sun ray. Smiling, Clint grabbed his bow and readied an arrow. The markings weren't deep so whatever was about to happen, happened quick.

Just as Clint got himself ready, the giant beast in the clearing let out a strange bellowing roar that shook the archer to his core. A split second later, the ray hit the marking and the beast raced out of the cavern into a pathway that had been blocked by his massive form from Clint's view. No sooner than the beast had left, came the echoing sounds of screeches like a hoard of bats or rats. Seconds later, indeed, a hoard of bats came through a different pathway. Clint quickly took aim and fired. After releasing the arrow, Clint was already reaching for another arrow. As the seconds passed, the bats flew through the cavern just about as fast as Clint was able to fire off his lot of arrows. When it was all over, every shot he fired had hit at least one target and there were ten targets down. Clint couldn't help but smile.

"At least I can still hunt," he muttered before rushing into the cavern without a care to collect his reward. He was going to wish he took pause to note that the sun ray still wasn't fully out of the mark yet. Clint got two steps away from his first kill when the roar of some type of large cat had him freeze. Looking up, the archer could see some type of dark shape as large as a bear was coming straight for him. Not sure what else to do, Clint raced the last two steps to get at least one arrow. He had enough time to pick up the arrow, with kill still attached, string it and fire it right into the left eye of what appeared to be a jaguar. The big cat roared in pain and outrage, tripping over it's paws and sliding past Clint. Not wanting to tussle with it any more, Clint took off for the pathway that he had come down. He raced off, not once looking back. It wasn't until he got all the back to his apparent main living space that he realized the cat never followed him. Nor did he end up collecting any of his kills. "FUCK ME!"

Angrily, Clint stormed back down the path, itching now to kill the jaguar for making him do this again. He made it back must faster this time but when he reached the cavern he was stunned to see all the kills and arrows were missing and the beast was back, calmly grazing. Blinking in shock, Clint looked down to see the sun ray was past the mark and a long way from hitting the next one. He snarled at it before dropping the bow and storming off.

* * *

 **I'm back... Still not feeling too creative and really up to posting much but... Here I am. Thank you for those who stated kind words those many months before. And thank you to whomever is still around. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Not that much was really done but hey, at least it is a chapter.**

 **News... No, we do not know what happened to Clint as of this moment. We are expecting answers anytime between May and September of this year. Yes, long time to wait. But hey, that's the system. We couldn't continue living in that house so we have moved to a new one and are in the process of selling the other one.**

 **Darius... Well, he doesn't really seem to understand. Heck, most days it doesn't even seem like the whole thing phased him. He does have a bit of PTSD with going to sleep when someone is there and waking up when they aren't. That typically freaks him out. He's also gotten very stubborn and has a harder time controlling his emotions and certainly listening to me.**

 **Hubby is really not doing good at all. In January, just as he was starting to return to work at like 4 to 6 hours a week, his boss quit and the CEO offered him the position. Knowing the better pay, hubby took it. Now he works 45 hours a week and is basically killing himself. He's always gone and barely can help when he comes home cause he shuts down and just looses interest in anything. It's hard on all of us. But he is currently on the look out for a new job and hopefully less hours so that he can be home more often.**

 **Whelp, I think that's about it. Oh, wait. Thank you to those who may have bought my book,** _ **Project New World**_ **. If you haven't and really enjoy my writing then you may want to go get it. It's sold on , and I think still Barnes and . Otherwise. Thanks again, and hopefully things can get back to a new normal and I won't leave you all waiting nearly 5 months for an update.**


	8. The Nine Realms

CHAPTER 8 - The Nine Realms

"Are you done yet?" Loki snarled, distantly staring off in the opposite direction of his companion that had been brought upon him. His response was another horrible retching sound that made him roll his eyes. Apparently using his magic to transport Wanda to a rift in the dimensions before taking said split could cause the witchling's stomach to revolt. They'd been stuck on the other side of the rift for a few minutes now since her quick warning of 'I'm gonna be sick'. Now, Loki was itching to get moving again, though he certainly wasn't going to risk transporting Wanda again unless absolutely necessary.

"No," Wanda moaned, taking a step away from her stomach contents in the hopes that it was now just the sight and smell that was making her continuously get sick. Weakened and shaking from the experience, she easily lost her balance and tumbled onto a rock. Her cry of pain made Loki turn around. Seeing her on the ground, all he did was give her a bland, uninterested look. She winced. "Sorry, I promise to be better next time."

Loki snorted, really not wanting to trust that theory, before turning back to follow the slowly fading trail of Hela's magic. Closing his eyes, he began trying to trace it's complete origin but somehow Hela had blocked her final place. The path was not fully blocked but Loki wasn't sure if the path would end where Hela was or not. Behind him, Wanda suddenly let out a little burp in an effort to not throw up whatever new was building in her stomach. She waited a full minute before deciding, yes, she was indeed done being sick. Staying still seemed to be helping the last of the symptoms clear and so she tested herself by getting up to stand beside the trickster. Loki must have sensed her move as he suddenly turned to face her.

"Let's go," he ordered without bothering to ask if she was ready. Wanda went to argue with him but Loki already was walking off in a north west direction. Hesitating half a minute longer, Wanda finally rushed off after him. Considering he was nearly a foot taller than her, it took a bit before she was fully able to catch up. Didn't help that Loki wasn't even attempting to keep her near him.

"Do you know where we're going?" Wanda muttered, really wanting an idea of where they were headed. Loki's expression hardened at her words and Wanda wondered what she did wrong. Many times, when Loki went on a journey with Thor, the thunderer asked the very same thing. Usually it was due to the fact that the thunderer thought he knew better but Loki typically always knew where he was going.

"Yes," the trickster hissed, not wanting to waste his energy on someone who refused to trust him based on actions not wholly his fault. Wanda waited a beat to see if Loki would continue on but he didn't which made her frown and rethink what she said.

"Okay then... Where are we going?" she rephrased figuring she should just be more blunt with the trickster. Loki very nearly stopped in surprise as he realized he might have misjudged her first question. He had thought that Wanda didn't trust his judgement and that she had thought of a better path that might actually get them no closer to their goal or headed off in the opposite direction. This was something that Thor and the Warrior's Three typically always did. They hated following Loki and any of his ideas so the trickster only became Silvertongue so that he could convince Thor into thinking his idea was right. But Wanda wasn't like them. She actually waned to know Loki's plan. Almost like she valued his input. He had only felt this when he had invaded Earth under the Chitauri's control. Barton had numerously asked for Loki's plan in order to help and refine it a bit each time but basically kept it the same each time.

"The trail I am following seems to be leading to Niffleheim," Loki replied, glancing at Wanda in time to see her confused look. Not many heard of this realm so Loki wasn't too surprised. "Niffleheim is the realm of the dead at the bottom of Yggdrasil."

"Ah," Wanda said, still sounding a bit confused. Unbeknownst to Loki, Wanda had never really been told about the Nine Realms. Thor left soon after the fight with Ultron ended and hadn't been back until earlier that day. Bruce had also left, though determining if it was Hulk or Bruce that more wanted to leave was a big debate with the Avengers. Clint had said he never fully understood it himself but mentioned a few of the worlds to Wanda, once. Natasha blew her off, explaining it wasn't dire information that the witchling needed to know. Tony was always to busy and Steve claimed he barely understood everyone Thor told him about it once before.

Figuring in the end that she wouldn't get an answer right then, Wanda let the subject drop and the duo walked in silence. Loki shifted the path a few times as they went following a trail that Wanda could neither see nor sense well herself. As they went, she picked up subtle traces of something odd but having never sensed Hela's energy before, she didn't understand what she was looking for. They walked for hours and hours, each step getting harder and harder on poor Wanda till finally, Loki suddenly stopped moving.

"We'll rest here for the night," Loki declared as if someone had begged him to stop. Wanda nodded, suddenly too tired to speak. She plopped down on the ground as Loki magicked a fire before them as he used to do for Thor and the Warriors Three. Expecting a rude comment about his magic use, Loki was surprised when Wanda let out a grateful moan and shifted her body closer to the fire and warmth. Surprised at her reaction, Loki took a closer look at their surroundings. His attention had been so focused on following the magic trail that he hadn't noticed it getting colder and colder by the minute. He hummed in confusion and worry. Wanda perked up a bit, looking at him.

"What?"

"Nidavellir is normally obnoxiously warm due to the constant underground forges burning," Loki commented as if the answer was obvious and to anyone who knew the Nine Realms, it would be. Wanda shivered as she sat up.

"Hate to break it to you, but it's like maybe ten degrees here," Wanda exaggerated only slightly. Loki frowned before giving her a better look. On Earth it had been mid summer, so everyone around had been dressed in light tee shirts and shorts. Wanda was no exception. Frowning at himself for now noticing her half frozen appearance, Loki quickly conjured a small pile of warm clothes in various styles for her to choose from. She gave them a surprised look before quickly sorting through to find ones she liked and that would fit well. Once she put them on, she looked at Loki with a soft smile. "Thanks."

"You have magic. Why did you not simply conjure them yourself, hours ago?" Loki snapped, leaking his anger at himself onto her. Wanda looked down sheepishly.

"I uh... Don't know the full extent of my magic. Most of what I know is used in combat," she admitted. Loki now sat down, almost too stunned to say anything. When he first learned magic, conjuring and illusions were the only things his teachers attempted. As he progressed, they began showing him more combat magic inside the other types they taught.

"Has no one taught you?"

"No. I... I asked Doctor Strange once, but he said that my training as an Avenger should be all I need and that I wouldn't have time to learn. If I needed help in the future to seek him out," Wanda admitted, remembering all too well the embarrassing moment. Loki huffed, wishing he could now go back in time and throw his daggers at Strange before he sent him through that portal to Norway. Well, truthfully Loki did know a spell to travel back in time but it was used for shorter bursts than the one needed to attack Strange once again.

"I can train you," Loki declared more than offered. He half feared that if he actually offered, Wanda would refuse him or worse, do as others had and laughed at him outright. But all Wanda did was give him a surprised but again grateful look.

"What?"

"I can train you. Having better control of your powers before getting into a battle with Hela will be helpful," Loki explained, twisting his offer into something more like a self-centered reason for wanted to help her. Wanda smiled at him, reading through his words to hear that Loki actually wanted to help teach her magic and it actually didn't matter that Hela's fight was coming up.

"Thank you," she warmly responded. Loki stilled for a second before waving her off. He loved hearing her thank him but didn't want to get too used to it. Something always happened later on the make the person dislike him. Usually it was a rumor spread from the now deceased Warriors Three, but Loki wasn't going to risk getting hurt again.

"We'll start in the morning," he informed her before conjuring two sleeping bags. One a dark forest green and the other a scarlet red which had Wanda chuckling at but she still nodded her thanks even as Loki quickly got himself into his. He huffed at her and waved off her appreciation before laying down. A few seconds later, he heard her doing similar. His magic would keep the fire going all night unless someone with dangerous intent descended upon them so he wasn't worried about the cold. But he could hear Wanda shifting a bit closer to the fire again. Unconsciously, he increased the heat that it produced and she let out a soft moan. For a few minutes, or maybe even a half hour, the two fell silent, trying to drift off to sleep.

"Loki? Are you still awake?" Wanda called, breaking the silence. Loki let out a soft groan as if he had indeed been close to sleeping. He wasn't anywhere near close and he knew that Wanda wasn't either. Both of them were just filled with energy and anxiety over everything that had happened recently. Wanda chuckled at the trickster. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You have managed three in the past minute," Loki softly hissed as though it bothered him. Again, Wanda chuckled.

"Can you explain the Nine Realms to me?" Loki sat up fast and stared at her prone form. When he didn't reply for a minute, Wanda sat up herself and looked at him. Seeing his expression, she shrugged and faced the fire beside her. "No one ever explained it to me."

"So, you know nothing?"

"I mean, I know Asgard is one realm and Earth is called Midgard. And I think you mentioned two names," Wanda stuttered, struggling to remember the strange words he had used. Loki moaned softly, making her look up at him.

"Nidavellir and Niffleheim," the trickster said. Wanda nodded, recognizing the names now that he had said them. Sighing, Loki shifted to a more comfortable position. Wanda followed suit. "Asgard, home of the Aesir, is... Was, largely considered the top point of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. It used to be a floating island that had all four seasons surrounding the main city and no visible way to hold all of it's air and water on it, considering one could easily walk or fall off the edge into the Void."

"Huh," Wanda muttered even as Loki shivered. He focused on her, trying to rid his mind of locked away memories, before realizing a visual might be better suited for this. Rolling his eyes, he made a miniature illusion of his now destroyed home. Wanda stared at it in awe. It was times like this that Loki really saw the wonderment and accomplishment of Asgard. Sighing, he watched her take in every bit of the image. "Wow, it's beautiful."

"Was," Loki corrected, wincing even as he did so. Wanda looked up at him with a saddened expression. "Thor and I called upon Ragnarok to destroy it, along with Hela in an attempt to free our people from her control."

"Oh," Wanda mumbled, ashamed at having not realized that Thor and Loki had an integral part of Asgard's demise. Loki shifted the image to show a new realm. This one was an entire planet. The image zoomed in and around the realm as Loki spoke and changed when it needed too. Wanda greedily stared at it all, fascinated.

"To either side of Asgard, but lower on the branches, are Vanaheim and Alfheim. Vanaheim is home to the Aesir's sister race, the Vanir. They are very similar to the Aesir only many are much older and wiser 'gods' than the Aesir. The Vanir also studied sorcery and magic, which of course the Aesir look down upon as they studied combat and physical prowess," Loki sneered, still angered by his run-ins as a child with people saying he should go back to Vanaheim where he belonged. He now knew the truth, he didn't belong there either. The image in his hands changed to another realm. "Alfheim is home to mostly the Light Elves. One could almost consider this the 'Fantasy Realm' as many human mythical creatures call this realm home as well."

"Was that a mermaid?" Wanda wondered when the image zoomed in to show some of the various creatures that Loki was talking about. Loki nodded.

"Just below them and considered the trunk of Yggdrasil is Midgard, which is surrounded by a realm called Jotunheim. This is home to the giants. Most famously, the Frost Giants."

"And you're half Frost Giant, right?" Wanda questioned, having heard something like that once before. Loki bristled, wishing it was only that simple.

"No. I am full blooded Frost Giant. Odin used his own magic upon me as a babe to make me look like an Aesir. When the spell broke a little after Thor's first attempt at coronation, I learned the truth of it and taught myself how to create the image so that when Father passed, I would look unchanged," Loki replied, shedding a small amount of the magic off his arm to show the light blue skin with darkened blue designs that apparently showed he was part of the Royal Family. Wanda shifted closer to get a better look at it all but in doing so, Loki became highly uncomfortable and re-concealed his arm in the Aesir magic. "Frost Giant skin can freeze anyone who touches it skin to skin. That was how I found out. Another warrior touched me and my skin did not freeze but showed it's true form."

"Interesting," Wanda commented. Loki bristled for a moment before realizing that Wanda actually did think that was interesting and she looked willing to learn more. Wishing Thor and his friends were more like this teenage girl, Loki shook his head and went back into showing off the rest of the realms.

"Just below, at the start of the roots on Yggdrasil, is Svartalfheim, home of the Dark Elves. It is a barren and cold world through most of it but there are small pockets of some life. Almost no intelligent creature still exists on this world as most of the Dark Elves are extinct," Loki added. Wanda frowned at that explanation but didn't comment. "Sometimes confused to be in the same area but is actually a root lower is the realm we are currently on, Nidavellir. This world is home to the Dwarves. They mostly live underground so its doubtful that we'll run into any on our way through. As stated before, normally this world is much hotter as the Dwarves are master crafters and need fires burning constantly for their forges."

"If Svartalfheim is closer to Earth, why didn't we cross through there?" Wanda wondered, looking about Nidavellir as Loki's image disappeared as soon as he mentioned the place. Loki sighed.

"Midgard is considered the middle of the tree so it has passages throughout Yggdrasil into all the realms. If we were on Vanaheim, I would have had to pass through either Midgard or Jotunheim to get here," Loki mentioned. Wanda nodded.

"But we're headed to the last one, right?"

"Correct. Hela's magic is leading us toward a passage that will bring us to Niffleheim, the lowest of the worlds but there is another realm before it, one that had we stayed on Midgard and used this particular path, would bring us too close for comfort," Loki explained. Wanda raised an eyebrow even as Loki rolled his eyes and re-conjured up an image of the realm. "Muspelheim is home to the Fire Demons. Their whole realm is basically a fire ball. I find the place naturally uncomfortable and I doubt any mere human could survive there long. Also, Surtur, one of the ones involved in Ragnarok, used to be it's ruler. Considering everything that happened, I'd rather not see how the other Fire Demons tolerate my presence on their world."

"Yeah, I don't think I would either," Wanda agreed.

"The final realm and base of the tree is Niffleheim. As I said before, it is the realm of the dead. Many confuse this realm by dividing into Valhalla and Hel, but really they are both parts of Niffleheim. Valhalla is where the honored souls go after dying in battle. Some who deserved the be honored but do not die in battle, instead go to Elysium for eternal peace. The rest serve their time in Hel which, depending on the person, can simply be a nice resting place or a place of everlasting torment and punishment."

"So, Clint will be going to Elysium?" Wanda questioned, figuring with all the good deeds Clint accomplished as an Avenger, he deserved to be honored. Loki winced, unsure if that is indeed where Clint would have ended up had Hela not gotten involved. He had forced the archer to explain his entire past to him while Clint was under his control. Clint had admitted to a lot of bad and Loki was never sure any amount of good could cover up the bad deeds done. He sighed deeply.

"If Clint died normally as in natural human like death, than more than likely. I am not one of the judges so I can't be sure. But in this case, I know that he won't be. Clint only died because Hela laid a curse on him. The more I track her magic, the more I see the details of this curse. His soul was sent to be with her. And knowing her own history, there is no way anyone would clear her for Valhalla or Elysium. She is more than likely in Hel, being tortured or punished, but I am not fully certain," Loki replied. Wanda nodded, more worried now than ever before. If Clint was with Hela while she was being punished, did that mean he was likely getting punished as well?

* * *

Clint woke suddenly to the sound of a low, deep, growling pretty close by. Instinct made it that when he woke, he moved carefully and quietly just in case whatever woke him hadn't spotted him yet. Too many times, when he was younger, a subtle noise (like a gasp) drew unwanted attention. Silence was always best. And it was a good thing this was so ingrained into Clint as whatever had been growling hadn't spotted him yet. Slowly, Clint shifted to a sitting position and looked about his cave. There was no one around and the sound wasn't coming from behind him, where the path down to the still unknown beast, bats and jaguar was. No, the sound was coming from outside the cave.

Clint looked out and realized night had fallen and the whole area was much colder. Remembering the fire he had made earlier, before falling asleep, Clint eased onto his feet and shifted over to his pit. It was mostly out now, just glowing embers that could easily be snuffed out by the large amounts of ash nearby. Clint used his boots to cover the embers before gently grabbing the stones and shifting them away so they didn't look so unnaturally placed in a circle. Knowing there was nothing he could do for the piles of wood he created, Clint carefully headed toward the path deeper into the cave. Outside, the growl grew louder.

Keeping his back to the path, Clint carefully watched the opening for signs that he was spotted and should move faster. Since earlier that day, he had remade the arrows he had lost and fixed up his bow a little so that it was sturdier. Now, he was thankful for the work he did, even if it never caught him a meal the whole day. He was moments away from disappearing around a corner when he noticed a large animal move closer to the entrance. As it got closer, Clint realized this animal was nearly as large as the cave itself. Not wanting to mess with whatever it was, Clint turned his back on the beast and rushed down the path as fast as he dared.

A howl echoed behind him as soon as he moved. The sound rattled Clint to the core as he realized that large animal was most likely a wolf and it now was hunting him down. He could only hope that it couldn't fit down the path he had taken. But judging by the sounds behind him, it was rapidly working it's way through.

"God fucking damn it!" Clint cussed, trying to move faster down the still unfamiliar path. Behind him, the wolf let out another howl, this one so loud and close that the vibrations in the ground sent Clint tumbling down. "FUCK!"

He got up and dared looked back just in time to see the open maw of a wolf about three times the size of Hulk. Clint totally did not, in a million years, ever scream like a little two year old girl at the sight. Thankfully the maw suddenly stopped when a sharp whistle pierced the air. Clint stood frozen as the wolf pulled back and carefully closed his mouth. Now, the archer was staring into huge green eyes, nearly as tall as he was.

"Fenris, my darling, did you find him?" cooed a woman's voice. Clint felt his blood go cold at the voice. Something about it made him know that she was trouble. Slowly from beside the massive wolf, a rather tall, beautiful woman slipped past. She reached up and slowly petted the side of the wolf's head. Doing some quick math in his head, Clint realized this woman was just a bit taller than Thor and even still the wolf beside her was nearly three times her height on all four paws. "Ah, Clinton Barton, the one man connected to both Thor Odinson and Loki, whatever his last name is today."

"It's Clint," the archer hissed, unsure what was going on. It was never, ever good when a villain knew your name and you had no clue who they were. Though considering she knew Thor and Loki, he half wondering if she was this Hela that had been mentioned once or twice since Tony mentioned Thor was returning to Earth. Clint never did get all the details about what happened to Asgard and now, staring at Fenris and Hela, he wished someone had told him something.

"Ah, yes. You never did like your full name," the woman replied. Clint snarled at her, wondering how the hell this woman knew that. "I am Hela, Odin't firstborn. Commander of the legions of Asgard and rightful heir to the throne. Some also call me the Goddess of Death. You, Clint Barton, are my prisoner."

"Yeah, I think not," Clint muttered. Hela smiled.

"Much better reaction the second time I think, don't you my pet?" she commented, glancing up at Fenris who gave off a feral growl. Clint went to move a step back in an attempt to start fleeing. Without even looking at him, Hela threw up her hand which was empty for half a second before suddenly a dagger came flying out and embedded itself into Clint's left arm. The archer cried out even as the force of the dagger sent him flying back a few feet onto his ass. Slowly, Hela turned to look back at him. "I wouldn't try to escape if I were you."

"Good luck trying to stop me," Clint snarled, moving to get up. Hela gave off a mix of a sigh and groan before tossing her other hand out. Like before a dagger suddenly appeared before nailing itself into Clint's right leg. The archer roared in pain, falling back onto his ass.

"Are we done now?" Hela questioned, twisting her hands to look at her nails as if they were suddenly dirty. Clint hissed, angry that he had gotten himself mixed up in this.

"I'll die before I let you hurt Thor," the archer snapped. Hela paused for a moment. Slowly, she turned to look at Clint as her expression morphed into a confused glee.

"Dearie, you're already dead."


	9. Training Begins

CHAPTER 9 - Training Begins

"Wake up," Loki snapped even as he 'gently' kicked the still sleeping witchling. Wanda jumped awake and, considering how Loki woke her, it was no surprise when she sent a red black of power at the trickster. While it was a fast attack and the two were close together, Loki was used to waking up warriors who attack without looking first. He easily blocked her power and took a step back in case she added a physical attack as well. Thankfully she didn't go after him with a physical attack. "That... Was weak."

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Wanda cried, horrified at what she attempted to do. She quickly began fighting her way out of the sleeping bag to get into a better position but she kept getting trapped. Loki snorted at her, raising an eyebrow when she continued to have an issue getting up. Was he sure it was a good idea to continue traveling with this girl? Wouldn't it be better for both of them to just ditch her?

"Don't apologize. Magic users need to practice their magic everyday or we can get a build up that can come out at inconvenient times. Like in the middle of an attack, or sometimes even conjuring a gift for a friend," Loki informed her. Wanda frowned as she thought over her history of using her magic. There was times that she had gone weeks without using her magic and admittedly, when she did try to use it again, it back lashed against her or the spell didn't work properly. Suddenly she paled and focused on Loki.

"What about Clint's magic?" she asked, pleading and praying that the archer was safe. He had never used any magic. Wanda was forced to check nearly daily as Clint was frantic about never using any. He was almost obsessed with the idea of never using magic, ever. Loki scoffed and looked away from the witchling.

"One can have magic but never be affected by build up. If Barton ever chooses to use his magic, even once, he'll become a user and be subject to the build up like you and I," Loki replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Wanda nodded, relieved to hear that Clint was safe still. But that didn't mean it was still the same now. Clint could have used magic since Wanda last checked. She could only pray that he hadn't.

"So... Um, what is for breakfast?" Wanda wondered, looking about their mini campsite. Loki's sleeping bag was already packed and much of the evidence of the fire was gone as well. But that was it. Loki stiffened. They had left Earth so quickly, neither had actually prepared for any long term trip. The trickster looked about. He had traveled through Nidavellir a few times with Thor and the Warriors Three but they never tended to stay long. Jotunheim was the realm they liked best, that and Alfheim.

"Stay here, conjure up a fire," Loki ordered before starting to venture off. Wanda opened her mouth to argue but Loki turned and gave her a sharp look. Figuring it best not to fight, she just nodded and turned back to the site Loki had first conjured a fire. Concentrating hard, Wanda imagined a burning fire in that spot before flashing out her power wildly. Loki snorted at her attempt. "Conjuring is not like a battle attack. Picture the object in your mind and then use your magic to seemingly print it into the spot you want it placed."

"Oh, okay," Wanda responded before making a second attempt. This time she got a bit further but the image crackled and fell apart after a few seconds.

"Keep working on it. I'll be back," Loki told her even as she attempted again. Wanda didn't even acknowledge his comment as she built a second image of a fire. Again, this one failed.

* * *

"Come on, you can do better than that," Loki hissed at the shimmering image of a dog before him. The trickster moved his hand over it's head as if petting the poor creature when the image shattered. Behind him, Wanda let out a deep groan before dropping onto her knees. The two had been walking and training for the better part of the morning since they got going. Training had started with building a fire to cook breakfast, not that Loki ended up finding meat but he did find some fruit that satisfied them both for the moment. It was probably best as Wanda never was able to conjure the fire.

Loki turned to face the teen with an air of disdain but when he saw her on the ground, he hesitated. Looking her over, he could see she was positively dead on her feet. Her body shook from not only the cold but also lack of energy from all the times Loki forced her to use her magic. It had been a while since they had their last break and Loki barely allowed a minute to go between spells. He frowned but still ordered her... "Again."

"I can't!" Wanda gasped, unable to do much of anything but sit there, shaking and trying not to throw up the little amount of food she had since setting out with Loki. The trickster hissed at her in anger, much like he had been doing since waking her. At this point in traveling with him, Wanda couldn't tell if he was doing it to continue faking being evil or if he was legitimately mad at her for some reason. Then again, at this moment, she could care less what the reason was. She was done with everything but breathing.

"Again!" Loki snarled even as his face morphed slowly into a sadden, guilty look. Thankfully Wanda wasn't looking at him, she was focused on the ground. Honestly, Loki always hated this part of the training process. Using magic till you depleted it all, but Wanda needed to know what that felt like. If she didn't go all the way and got to her current point in the midst of battle, she may never make it out alive. To know ones full end point is to know how long they could fight. "Do you honestly think Hela would let you take five minutes to rest in battle? What about that Hydra group I heard about? Or any of the other weak mortals you people fight?"

"I can't," Wanda sobbed, shaking her head now. Loki rushed her, grabbing her by the throat in order to lift her off the ground. He hardened his gaze and stared sickeningly into horrified eyes as Wanda rapidly began gasping for air harder than before. For a second, he almost let go of her but then determination flowed through him and he gripped her a bit tighter.

"Do it again or I will snap your neck like a twig," Loki hissed at her. Wanda whimpered but seconds later, Loki felt her power somewhere behind him. Releasing her as if she was a disease, Loki spun around to see the perfect image of a wolf growling at him. He paled, remembering Fenris from Asgard, just as the wolf attacked. Loki raised his arms to protect his face as his mind blanked from any useful ways to stop the creature but a moment before the wolf's huge teeth latched onto him, it vanished. A second or two passed before Loki lowered his arms and looked down to see Wanda absolutely unconscious with no signs of waking up. He smiled. "Good job, Wanda."

* * *

When Wanda woke, it was dark out and she was laying on the ground, looking up. She last remembered her face hitting the ground. So, how did she turn around? She wasn't normally a restless sleeper. Slowly, she turned her head to her right and spotted a fire burning. Above the fire was some sort of strange meat turning on a spit. Staring at it just made her mouth water and her stomach grumble. Sitting up, Wanda noticed Loki was off to the fire's left, just by her feet. His back was to her and he seemed to be working on something else. For a second, she almost called out to him but then her mind flashed back to moments before she passed out. Loki had attacked her. Her gasp of fear made Loki turn around to face her.

"Good. I was beginning to fear I brought you over the edge and killed you," Loki greeted as if it was typical to nearly kill someone during training. Wanda frowned.

"What?" she managed, not sure how else she could respond to that.

"During training," Loki replied as if it was obvious. Wanda's frown deepened.

"You attacked me," she accused. Loki nodded.

"I did."

"Why?"

"When I went to train with my mentor, the first thing he taught the other students and myself were our limits. We all had used magic before and knew some spells so she just had us repeat them, over and over and over until we passed out," Loki easily told her. Wanda nodded. Made sense to figure out some sort of limit to one's magic. "Many of us died."

"What?" Wanda called, praying she heard wrong. Loki sighed before getting up to check on the meat roasting over the fire. Apparently it must have been done as he began to take it off even as he spoke.

"Finding someone's limit is essential if you intend to wield magic in battle. If you only plan on doing simple things like tricks and junk magic, you don't need to learn that. But to find one's limit is dangerous. Just about as dangerous as fighting in a battle without knowing your limit."

"I've fought many times before," Wanda argued. Loki scoffed, turning his back on her to continue some sort of meal prep.

"You've been lucky. By knowing your limit you could better judge your use of power in battle. For example, that attack you performed in Lagos, was it?" Loki guessed. Wanda paled but he didn't notice. "If you understood your limit, you may have been able to hold onto your shield long enough to get the explosion up and over the building rather than as high as you did."

"I..." Wanda started to defend but then stopped. Loki had a point. She was so afraid of overdoing it that she under did it. Ashamed, she looked down.

"Now that we have found your limit, it's much easier to tell when it is coming on again and you can plan your magic accordingly," Loki informed her. Wanda nodded again, unsure how she felt about the whole idea of Loki not even attempting to explain before going through all that. She was now beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. Everyone had already been worried about her traveling with Loki alone, now she was taking lessons in magic from him. Was there some alternative motive? What was Loki getting out of all this? Suddenly food was thrusted into her face and Wanda jerked back in surprise. "Eat."

"What?" she asked again, feeling almost like she was in an endless loop. Loki sighed and pressed the food further into her chest.

"Eat. Rebuild your strength for tomorrow," Loki said. Wanda frowned before actually accepting the food and giving it a good look. She knew none of the items in what appeared to be some sort of soup. There was something like some veggies, maybe a potato (but it was blue colored) and of course that strange meat. It smelt odd, almost like a sick animal of some sort. She gently pushed it away from her face so as to not look or smell it anymore. Loki huffed, having already finished a bowl himself in her inspection. "It's not poison. I swear upon my life. All food is edible for Aesir and human."

"Okay," Wanda muttered as if that knowledge made the food look or smell any better. Slowly, she built up the confidence to grab the spoon that had been in the soup. Carefully, she brought it up to her mouth without looking at it and holding her breath. Once the food was in her mouth she tried not gagging but was shocked at the magnificent taste. She dug into the meal with a new vengeance as Loki chuckled. Seconds later she finished the bowl. Loki quickly took it from her and filled it up. Wanda gave him an odd look when we handed it back.

"You'll need a lot of food to regain the energy I made you use," Loki explained but Wanda didn't seem to listen as before he even finished one word, she had grabbed the bowl and began devouring it just as quickly. Loki snorted at her in mild amusement as he readied his own second bowl. They stayed like that for nearly ten minutes, each eating a bowl of seemingly endless soup as Loki continued to refill each bowl. At the end of the ten minutes or so, Wanda had filled herself almost to bursting and sat back with a loud 'humph'. Loki couldn't stop his smile as she then proceeded that with a rather large yawn.

"Ugh, how can I still be tired? I slept what, half the day away?" Wanda yawned. Loki smiled at her which made her give him a confused look. "How long did I sleep?"

"About a day and a half," Loki corrected. Wanda paused, frozen in surprise. His smile grew. "Before you woke, I was half worried that you had slipped into a coma."

"That's not funny," Wanda hissed at the trickster as Loki chuckled at her shocked face.

"No, you are right," Loki confirmed, ending his chuckles at her as he looked into the fire, suddenly horribly depressed. Wanda frowned. "It's not funny. I remember when it happened to me."

"What?"

"When I was training, my mentor did the same that I did to you, pushed me to test my limit. She did it to everyone training in my group. I got pushed far enough to fall into a month long coma until my magic was finally able to self return and called me back to my body. The others that hit a similar point were not so lucky. Most of us died. One of the others still has yet to wake, though her body survives," Loki informed her, focusing on the fire as if it had more magical qualities than he first had given it.

"If she won't wake, why not..." Wanda started to ask but then stopped realizing how it may have sounded. She winced even as Loki snorted.

"Believe me, it had been mentioned on numerous occasions. But her body survives without help, other than to feed, water and bath her. It's almost like she had just been sleeping for centuries," Loki explained. Wanda frowned, unsure what to feel about that now. "We give her food and water inside bottles, like an infant, and she takes it all in as if she was awake but... Her eyes simply never open. She doesn't move. She just lays there..."

"Oh."

"There have been various debates on ending her existence but... Similar to the debates on Earth over infants in the womb, who can say if she was alive or not? Nothing is keeping her body alive, save for the men and women who volunteer to feed and bath her. But many elderly or injured need similar treatment. Are they not living? Where do we draw the line?"

"Wow..." Wanda muttered, unsure what to say or even feel about the situation. She couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to have been training with that woman and both falling into a coma but only one ever waking. What would that be like?

"Mother vouched for the woman many times. I think she may have been the only reason she lived as long as she did," Loki suddenly added, stoking the fire as if it needed more help. Wanda found herself frowning again before it struck her. All the Asgardians that had fled on the ship were mobile or young children. None of the elderly and injured had been saved. This woman that Loki was talking about was now dead thanks to deeds Thor and Loki performed.

"I'm so sorry," Wanda told him as if it made a difference. Loki scoffed at her, his mind focused on all the lives lost thanks to Thor and his decision to destroy their realm. But even as he did, Wanda could see his body relax slightly as if relieved. Just hearing that someone understood the impossible decision was enough.

"For what? Being the cause of her death? Killing hundreds, maybe thousands more Asgardians in a senseless act that didn't even succeed?" Loki hissed, glaring darkly at Wanda. She gasped at how evil and angered he sounded. Suddenly he sighed. "Forget it. Just get some rest. I plan on doing more training and making it into Niffleheim by tomorrow."

* * *

"I'm what?" Clint cried, too stunned to do anything else. Hela gave a light chuckle at him as she continued petting Fenris with no concern of anything else. Somehow, Clint couldn't help but notice, she made the whole act more threatening than Natasha herself. Clint shuddered, trying not to let it show that this was getting to him.

"You are dead," Hela repeated with a bit on finality to it. Clint felt what little color he had left drain away. Hela gave him what could have been her attempt at a comforting smile but it did little to soothe his nerves about this whole thing. She stepped forward. "I know this because, I killed you."

"What?" Clint called incredulously before he narrowed his eyes at her. He last remembered standing with the others as they watched Thor, Loki and some strange Asgardian get blown out of the ship they had traveled to Earth with. How could she have killed him? "How?"

"That letter you received," Hela told the archer. Clint frowned as he tried to think about the last letter he received. He had been on the run for so long that honestly he had completely forgotten what actually made him go home and pick up his family. "I did say we'd see each other."

"How?" Clint croaked even as his memory flashed back to the 'innocent' mail item that had his name on it. While he didn't fully remember what had been written on it, he did remember feeling the surge of power that come from it and settle into his chest. Thinking about it now, he rubbed his chest as if in agony.

"Magic," she replied, finally stopping petting the wolf beside her. Fenris grumbled her disagreement with this. "I thought you had some dealings with that before."

"So, if I'm dead, this is hell?" Clint wondered, ignoring Hela's last dig so as to not get lost in the memories of the Battle of Manhattan. Hela laughed at him, slowly returning to stand closer to Fenris and resumed petting the large wolf. Clint again shuddered.

"My goodness, what an honor. Midgardians really call Niffleheim hell?" Clint paused at that. Distantly he remembered Thor trying to explain the Nine Realms to Tony and Bruce. If he remembered correctly, Niffleheim was the realm of the dead and separated into like three or four various parts. "Well, I guess you are partly right. We are not in Valhalla or Elysium. This part is Hel."

Clint blinked at her, just as he had when Thor once described this realm to the others. Hel and Hell sounded rather much like the same thing but Clint knew that when written out, they were actually different. Thinking about the spelling of the two different worlds and even the spelling of Hela's own name made the archer shake his head.

"If this is Hel, that means you're dead as well?" Clint asked, focusing more on the duo for tell tale signs that they were. Hela snarled at him, gripping Fenris's fur rather roughly. In response, the wolf growled sharply at them both.

"A mere technicality," Hela admitted with a dismissive wave of her free hand. Clint couldn't help but roll his eyes at death being a technicality. "Odin Allfather locked me away here. He thought that by trapping me here I'd be powerless. But he forgot, I'm the Goddess of Death."

"So..." Clint retorted, making Hela pause. She look at him in wonderment. Never before had she met a mortal so daring as to act like this in front of someone clearly their better. "Thor is the god of thunder and I tend to see him using more lightning then thunder. Loki is the god of lies and yet I feel he tells more truths than lies."

"Unlike them, my powers do actually revolve around death," Hela explained, moving away from Fenris to turn and look back out the opening of the cave. Fenris turned to look at her. Clint nodded as if paying attention and slowly began to take one step back. Neither noticed. Cautiously, he took a second step back just before Hela turned to look back at him. "I am in control of this realm."

"And you brought yourself to Hel?" Clint questioned, using his tone to make her seem stupid. As he assumed, Hela snarled at him but once again looked away in anger. Clint took a third step back and was on his fourth when Fenris glanced at him. The archer paused.

"Your soul fell here," Hela lied, looking out over her domain. Fenris turned to look back at her master again. Clint frowned, trying to remember to carefully move backwards even as he got lost in thought. He wasn't fully surprised that his soul would never end up in the 'good' section of whatever came next, he honestly prayed he was wrong. "I am only here to collect you."

"With what?" Clint hissed, trying to sound much more threatening than he knew he looked even as he took another retreating step. Hela smiled again, spinning around to focus solidly on Clint even as she pulled out an orange gold stone. Clint paled. He had no true idea what the stone was but considering his current record with unknown stones, this one must have some odd abilities that he wasn't going to like.

"Ah, you know this stone?" Hela darkly chuckled, her smile turning rather evil. Clint shook his head with a snort.

"Actually, no. Just haven't had much luck with magic stones," Clint answered, his mind flashing through the ones he had already come across. Hela frowned at that, wondering how experienced the archer was with the various Infinity Stones. Could he know their true purpose?

"This is the Soul Stone. One of six Infinity Stones," Hela described, using the small bit of information to see what Clint knew. Clint shrugged, using his own ignorance to gain some new knowledge that might be helpful in the future. Hela sighed and gave Clint a look that suggested she couldn't tell if he was lying to her or if he was just that stupid. "Seriously?"

"Hey, I may have run into some but no one's actually named them," Clint told her, shrugging his shoulders again in a 'what can you do' fashion. Hela rolled her eyes, suddenly amazed at how long Clint has lived the life he's lived. Clint used that to take a few more steps into the cave. Fenris tilted her head afterwards and seemed to be mentally gauging the distance as if she understood he had moved. Clint, of course, fiend innocence.

"There are six Infinity Stones; the Mind Stone, Soul Stone, Space, Time, Reality and Power," Hela explained as if to an infant. Clint frowned, thinking about the stones he ran into. If they were all of similar design to the one Hela was currently holding then he had only run into, now, three of the six. "The Mind stone controls people's minds in whatever way the user wants. They could become loyal, the mind could be moved to a new person, or removed to leave an empty husk."

"I think I ran into the Mind, Reality and now your Soul stone," Clint interrupted. Hela arched an eyebrow at that. Mind and Reality were two of the rarer and harder to find stones and yet somehow he ran into those first? "Unless the Tesseract was the space..."

"Tis a powerful double," Hela dismissed, waving her hand. Clint raised an eyebrow. If the Tesseract was only a double of the real Space stone, he now wondered how powerful the real one could be. "There is a second set of 'stones' that claim to be the real Infinity Stones, but they are clever imitations."

"Okay, so. This Soul stone, what can it do?" Clint muttered knowing the Mind stone had allowed Deadpool (of all people) to switch the minds of the Avengers and the Reality stone created the Hydra controlled world so this stone was dangerous. And if it effected his soul... Now that Clint really thought about it, he really didn't want to know what it did. Hela smiled at the archer.

"This," she called before thrusting it at him in a surge of golden light.

* * *

 **Wow. An actual update a week after the first one. Amazing. Note the sarcasm. Welp... I'm sorry for the entire lack of consistent updates. Can't promise that this will continue but I'm damn sure gonna try.**

 **So... Hubby is working like round the clock. Barely get time to see him and when I do, it's either late at night while we're eating or just before one of us goes to a doctor's appointment. Darius is doing okay. He's turn into a stubborn little punk. Attending the Early Learning Center that Clint used to attend. In fact, Darius's teacher was Clint's last teacher so kinda hard to deal with. Also doesn't help that most of Clint's classmates are still at the school and some of them and their parents knew me. But... Later this week, Darius is going to start attending daycare, giving me three days out of the week where I can do whatever (hopefully UNPACK THE DAMN HOUSE!). Oh, we also have two cute little gophers living underneath the shed beside our house. They've dug some small holes under out metal fence to get into our backyard and pool area, but they haven't disturbed life since we've noticed them. Oh yeah, pool got open this week. Now just waiting on word that it's okay to swim in. Also waiting to see if it will ruin my dyed hair. Asked for chemicals that would be safe. Hope it works.**

 **As for me, still suffer from lack of sleep. Currently suffering extreme back pain after Darius pushed hard on the area of my back that has a pinched nerve. Can't blame the kiddo. He was just playing but boy did that hurt real bad. He got me to cry, lol. Hopefully that will heal before the first day of daycare so I have the ability to try and clean. But with my luck it won't. And I say that cause on Darius's first day of school, he had tripped me on a toy called a Plasma Car by accident and hurt my left knee and damaged my right ankle that I believe I now have a permanent scar.**

 **THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWS, FAVORITES, and FOLLOWS! It means so much that you all enjoy my series. At some point soon I'm hopefully going to go back and rewrite the beginning of the series to tie them all in better and get them tied into the MCU a bit more, now that these characters seem to have ended their journey. When I do, I'm also going to post them on Archive of Our Own. Just recently started looking at all those fanfictions. Kinda wanted to join in over there as well.**

 **Also, don't forget that if you really enjoy my stories go onto Amazon and purchase Project New World. It's a young teen vampire fantasy novel.**


	10. Niffleheim

CHAPTER 10 - Niffleheim

Loki lead the way through the portal from Nidavellir and Niffleheim. Wanda took a minute or so more before following after him. Loki couldn't help the small smile of pride as she stepped through intact. He didn't tend to trust many to pass through the rifts in the realms by themselves but Wanda was proving to be a wonderful student. She had already progressed rapidly through the beginning years of Loki's studies and was now onto a few steps later, shape shifting. Though he was much smarter about it then he had once been. Wanda was made to practice on other objects rather than herself. In fact, Loki doubted he'd ever teach her to shape shift her own form.

"Excellent," Loki complimented, having slowly getting nicer and nicer to her the more they worked together. Wanda scoffed, unsure if she should trust him and his nice words. Loki chuckled, having gotten rather used to her reaction. She wasn't meanly scoffing at him, it sounded oddly confused and it kind of endeared him to her even more. "I was not being sarcastic."

"Okay," Wanda muttered, unsure what to say after that as embarrassment flooded through her. Loki again chuckled, shaking his head at her which seemed to only add to her embarrassment. Honestly, he was far too used to people not trusting his words or twisting them to mean something far worse than what he meant. Lately, Wanda trusted him more than most but still had moments where compliments and kinder words were mistaken. Wanting to move on from the subject, Wanda looked around the area they had walked into. Niffleheim was different from Nidavellir as it looked barren, with little to no plant life at all. And with no plant life, there seemed to be no animal life either. "So, this is Niffleheim?"

"This is a part of Niffleheim. As I mentioned once before, Niffleheim holds Valhalla, Elysium and Hel. We will not be seeing Valhalla as only those honored in death can pass through it's gates. Elysium and Hel are nearly interlaced with each other but you may see the differences as we travel. Currently, this looks like someone's Hel," Loki explained, taking a cursory look around. Wanda frowned, reading into Loki's words for any bit of information. She found that sometimes Loki said something that had multiple meanings and she'd have to dig a bit more to find it.

"Someone's Hel?" Wanda wondered, picking up correctly on Loki's choice of words. Loki smirked. Very few could pick up on his particular style of speech. Figuring he could walk and talk, Loki turned and headed off in the direction he sensed his sister's energy. Wanda took a moment before she followed after him, rushing a bit to catch up with him.

"Yes. The reason Elysium and Hel are interlaced is that Niffleheim itself reacts to where each soul settles. If a soul is bound for Hel, they would reside in endless torment in a barren world like this. Elysium is meant to be restful and would be similar to Valhalla or like Hel, depending on how the soul wants to spend eternity," Loki tried describing. He had asked Frigga once about how Niffleheim worked but it's rules were so strange that even she had an issue describing it. Wanda blanched.

"Who wants to spend eternity suffering?" she questioned, shaking her head at the absurdity of it. Loki shrugged, having once thought he might and still feared he would. The area around them subtly changed to show a bit more plant life, but most of it looked dead and wilting. As they continued to walk, it slowly became more lively, almost like a reverse way of a plant dying in fall to ready for winter.

"Depending upon the soul's belief in life, they might not truly choose it. Niffleheim almost is a presence unto itself. It can examine a soul to find the best place for them to go," Loki replied, frowning as he realized he might not have said that clearly enough. Wanda also frowned, having not understood what he meant. "Okay, let's break it down this way. Say that the soul was a Roman Catholic ( **MIND YOU I KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THEM! I am agnostic** ) who committed suicide. According to that belief, I believe, the soul is supposed to be bound to one of the various 'rings of hell'. Niffleheim will place the soul inside it's own Hel. Now that is not to say they suffer eternal torment. Niffleheim also judges the soul to make sure it receives proper punishment. This could mean that the soul is basically sitting upon a rock with nothing around them. Depends on what they need. Hel is eternal torment in whichever way is best for the soul. Niffleheim will not let a soul needlessly suffer."

"That sounds... Almost pleasant," Wanda commented, partly surprised at it. Loki nodded. He had thought the same thing. But after all he had done, his Hel would truly be endless torment.

"So many think of the afterlife in terms of black and white, heaven and hell, pleasant and not. But there is more varying degrees of gray. Being in one over the other doesn't tend to mean much. Even Valhalla is basically considered for the 'good side'. But, lets say that I, as a villain, attacks Earth and I die in that battle. Then at the same I, or a minion of mine, kill Captain Rogers. Both of us, as we died in battle, should end up in Valhalla together."

"Should?" Wanda inquired.

"I hear Rogers is a Christian. Not many Christians believe in an afterlife that involves endless battles until Ragnarok," Loki answered easily. Wanda's seemingly eternal frown deepened.

"Didn't Ragnarok just happen?" Loki snorted.

"In a way, yes. Ragnarok comes about in many forms. Fenrir, my son, is supposed to cause one. Surtur, the one Thor and I caused, is another. Odin is also supposed to lead the charge against invaders from Jotunheim. Another child of mine is supposed to kill Thor. As long as Asgard exists, in whatever form, Ragnarok can happen over and over," Loki stated, his voice going blank as a way to defend himself from showing emotions. Wanda opened her mouth to ask something else but suddenly Loki waved a hand quickly beside him. When she went to speak, her throat felt frozen. Not frozen like she couldn't breath or swallow, but stiff. Sore. Without having to try again, Wanda understood that Loki had frozen her vocal cords. Silently they walked as all around them Niffleheim changed over and over. It was maybe hours before Loki finally waved his hand again and Wanda was freed. "You could have broken out of that spell, easily."

"Yes. I know," Wanda admitted, having instead used the silence to think on everything Loki had told her. Sam had once mentioned that Thor's stories seemed to revolve a lot around ancient Norwegian lore. "Wasn't Hela supposed to be your only daughter?"

"Hel. She was named Hel. Not my choice in the matter. Odin named her. She... She came out basically half formed. None of Asgard wanted to look at her. Considering most of my other children were destined for Ragnarok or some death in some way, shape or form, Odin thought he'd be forgiving on Hel. She was sent here, to Niffleheim as a ruler. Lately though, no one has really heard from her," Loki answered, his voice tight. Wanda sighed.

"Have you?"

"She came to me, weeks before she left. She claimed something was going to happen and she couldn't be involved. She was needed elsewhere. I didn't understand it then. Now... Now I think I do," Loki muttered and somehow Wanda could tell that this was all he was going to say. It was probably a good thing as suddenly they heard a rather loud growl. Looking around, Wanda was surprised to notice that they were suddenly at a cliff edge with various cave like entrances strewn about. The one dead in front of them had a woman, dressed in green, standing beside a huge female wolf. "Hela."

"My dear... Adopted, brother," Hela greeted, pausing to look down upon Loki as she stated adopted. Loki tensed but otherwise showed no signs that he was affected by this word. Wanda felt her powers begin to rise in reaction to her anger of Hela's greeting. At the sudden change in magic in the air, Hela glanced over to the witchling. "And who might this young thing be?"

"A friend of the man you took," Loki hissed between his teeth. Hela laughed loudly.

"He actually had friends? Wow, did not see that," she chuckled, seemingly making a joke to herself. Fenris huffed out a soft sound that almost could be considered a laugh. Wanda's power appeared around her hands, flaring. Hela seemed to enjoy this show even more as she laughed again. Loki placed a hand on Wanda's arm to draw her attention. She turned her glare onto him and was stunned to see his compassionate face. It took a moment for her to realize that Loki was trying to calm her. Slowly she drew back her power and tried to cool her temper. Something about this woman made Loki fear her and after everything the two had done so far, Loki knew how ready Wanda was to take her on. "Aw, don't think you guys can stand against me?"

"Hela," Loki warned as if he and Wanda were more powerful than she. Somehow, here, Loki knew that Hela had more power. Just like when she had been on Asgardian soil. Hela laughed again.

"Ah, you sense it don't you?" Hela questioned. Loki gritted his teeth but said nothing. Wanda glanced at him and then to Hela. Carefully, she opened her own senses to get an idea of what had Loki so frozen. "Dear father had thought that by imprisoning me here, I'd weaken. But millennia here with nothing to do taught me some interesting things. I learned so much."

"Hela, please. Get to the point," Loki huffed, trying to regain any sort of control over this situation. Hela again laughed at his gall.

"Honestly? You dare try and control me?" she wondered. Loki shook his head.

"No, merely asking for you to not stall," Loki countered. Hela smirked.

"Fine. I'm guessing your here for revenge on the archer's death?" she muttered as if Clint's life was meaningless and just simply a show of power. And while it may have been her intent, Clint was so much more than she understood.

"Not revenge if you easily release him," Wanda snapped before Loki could speak. Loki groaned softly. He hadn't realized Wanda was going to be quick to snap comments without thinking them through like Thor. If he had realized this, he might have left his silencing spell on her a bit longer. Hela laughed.

"And what would I get if I release him?" Hela inquired. Wanda frowned. "Well? I took him for a reason dear girl. What would I get if I give him back?"

"What do you get with keeping him?" Wanda spat. Hela smiled, her face twisting into the most evilest look that Wanda could picture. She instinctively took a step away.

"Entertainment," Hela purred, pulling out a small orange gold stone. Loki stiffened at the sight before quickly pulling Wanda behind himself.

"How did you get that?" Loki snarled.

"It is surprising to learn that the Vaults of Valhalla are held so close to the prison cells here," Hela commented, turning the stone around to look at it from every angle. "So many people think that this stone is lost. But it's been here. Giving Niffleheim it's power. In fact, I think I heard some idiot is guarding the fake one on some far away planet."

"Hela," Loki warned. She laughed and the stone suddenly pulsed and for half a second everyone could see an image of Clint laying on the ground. He looked like he was being eaten alive by something.

"Clint!" Wanda cried nanoseconds after the image vanished. Hela frowned, focusing on the spot.

"Hmm. Interesting."

* * *

"Stupid, wake up," a young familiar voice silently urged. Clint groaned, trying to keep himself asleep as his head hurt greatly. Rolling away from the voice, Clint very nearly swatted whoever it was in the face. The owner of the voice huffed at him. "Fine, be that way. See ya never."

"Wha'?" Clint blearily called, opening his eyes finally to turn and see who was there. Considering how tired he actually was, Clint's vision was thankfully clear and he was able to see a young boy standing at his beside. Looking around quickly, Clint noted the room was vaguely familiar. It seemed smaller than he last remembered but then it had been many years since he had last seen it. The seven sets of bunk beds lined the wall to Clint's right in perfect even spaces. Their tattered sheets and mattresses filled with boys of various ages, sleeping soundly. It took a moment more before Clint realized why this room looked familiar. This was the room he and his brother stayed in while at Waverly Home for Orphans. Perking up at that, Clint sat up fast and shockingly hit his head on the bunk above him. The bunk that Barney used to sleep in and that Clint could hardly reach unless standing on his mattress. He had always been shorter as a young boy. "Ow."

"Punk! Shut it!" the same voice from before hissed. Clint looked over at the young boy again and focused more on him. Slowly, almost agonizingly slowly, Clint's mind connected that this young boy was Charles Bernard Barton.

"Barney?" Clint questioned, confused. Barney, the boy's nickname as he never liked his first name, rushed his younger brother in an effort to cover his mouth. But for the first time that Clint ever remembered, the usually taller boy had to reach up in order to do so. Clint couldn't stop his frown from forming under his brother's sweaty hand as he tried to glare up at the bunk above him. He didn't think his memory was this bad with height wise. Could he have been taller than Barney? Maybe he slouched more so as to not get hurt?

"Shut it! Do you want Old Man Winters to catch us?" Barney snarled, looking around at the thankfully still sleeping forms of the other boys. Ted, a boy three beds down from the Barton brothers normally was a light sleeper, but on this particular night Ted had been sick and slept deeply. Clint shook his head even as his eyes flickered to Ted's sleeping form. Feeling Clint was done speaking, Barney released his mouth and moved a step away from the bed, avoiding the creaking board two boards away from their bed. "Hurry up."

Clint slipped out of his bed, the springs creaking loudly against the weight of his body. Both boys stilled. Clint's bed had never creaked before. He had always been underweight and so light that many claimed he was lighter than a feather. A few beds down, someone (likely the resident bully, Quin) shifted in their sleep. Like Clint's bed, the other boy's bed let out a squeal. The Barton boys sighed in relief. Most beds made noise as everyone shifted through the night so by now, everyone in the room had gotten used to sleeping through the sound.

"Where are we going?" Clint whispered as they slipped past their bed and down the narrow room to the door. Barney shrugged his shoulders, tensing in anger. Clint had always asked far too many questions for his liking but Clint couldn't really help being inquisitive. "What are we gonna do for food?" Barney again shrugged, his shoulders getting tenser as they moved and Clint kept talking. "Where will we stay if it rains? Or snows? What if they look for us?"

"Shut up!" Barney cried out in an harsh angered tone that wasn't a silent as it should have been. The boys froze and Clint was surprised to realize they had made it to the bedroom door of Old Man Winters. It was the last bedroom right before the stairs down to the main entry way and living room. In the silence that followed, Clint could hear the sounds of a man snorting himself awake. Something he didn't remember hearing last time his mind had gone through this moment. Could he have forgotten the horror of being chased down?

"Did you hear that?" Winters grumbled sleepily inside his room. He was a single man, Lady Winters having died a year after the Bartons had gotten put into this orphanage, so there shouldn't have been anyone in the room with him. But seconds later there was a soft growl. Coote, Winter's large Doberman Pinscher, tended to normally sleep in the room with the man since his wife's death. But Barney had planned this night well according to Clint's original memory. Coote had been antsy before bed, almost as if he knew something was going to happen, so Winters had locked the dog up outside so as to not deal with it. That was why they left this night, two days before the first snowfall of winter. Inside, the bed creaked as Winters apparently got up to check on the noise. The brothers traded a look. There was no way they could get caught so close. They'd never get a second chance to escape.

"Run!" Barney spat at Clint before taking off. Clint was a step behind his brother even as Coote began anxiously barking. Winters stormed to his door and flung it open as Barney and Clint rounded the corner of the hall to the stairs.

"ESCAPEES!" Winters roared. Coote slipped out the doorway before Winters could finish his word. The boys made it all the way down the stairs by the time Coote caught them. Being further behind, Coote launched himself onto Clint and began viciously attacking him. Tearing into his skin and flesh as if eating his bowl of dog food. Clint could hardly see past the blood in a matter of seconds.

"BARNEY! HELP!" Clint screamed in agony, trying his best to protect his head while focusing his gaze on his brother. Barney paused to turn and look at him. There was a quick second of surprise that morphed to sadness and horror before Barney shook his head no and turned back around to the door. "BARNEY!"

Barney made it a few more steps to the door before Winters suddenly appeared faster than either boy anticipated. He reached out his long adult arm and snatched Barney's shirt collar and a small bit of Barney's currently too long hair. Barney let out a horrified screech as Winters yanked him off his feet and pulled him away from the door. In the same movement, Winters turned to look back at Coote and Clint, still fighting on the end of the stairs. The man clicked his tongue and a second later, Coote was off Clint and standing beside Winters. His muzzle dripped with Clint's blood and bits of skin dangled, stuck in his teeth. Winter reached his free hand down to pat Coote's head as he surveyed the damage done to Clint.

"Barn..." Clint weakly called, trying to lift an arm that only seemed to move from half of his upper arm. The rest of his arm hung on loosely from some type of muscle or tendon. Barney instantly looked green. Clint glanced at the small stump before focusing on his fingers and tried to move them. None of them even twitched. For a moment, time seemed to still as Clint took in his eviscerated arm. He had seen enough death and body damage in his life to know that this injury was not going to heel in time. In fact, if Winters didn't call for an ambulance in the next second, Clint doubted he'd survive. And to think, this was only one arm. Coote had done a number to his other arm, back and legs. It was a miracle that Clint was still conscious at this point, never mind even being alive. Winters scoffed and looked back down at Coote with a disappointed look.

"Just finish the job," Winters snarled before walking off with Barney still dangling by his shirt and hair. Clint couldn't even feel Coote resuming his attack. All the archer's focus was on the retreating form of the old guardian and his brother.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Clint sobbed, sounding far stronger than before even though Coote was beginning to eat him alive. Clint's vision slowly started to tunnel in. "We escaped! Barney... We escaped! We made it..."

As Clint slowly started to drift off into what one could only assume was death, he became lost in his mind. If he died on this night, then how did he have memories past this moment? How did he remember escaping and joining Carson's Traveling Wonders? Hadn't he become the Amazing Hawkeye? Didn't he meet Phil Coulson? Join S.H.I.E.L.D? Heck, what about the Avengers?

"WAKE UP, CLINTON!" an unfamiliar voice ordered. For half a second, Clint's vision completely cleared and he caught sight of Loki and Wanda starting off at Hela and Fenris just outside the cave he had hidden in seemingly forever ago. But then Clint found himself back in the memory of getting eaten by Coote and he passed away, again.

* * *

 **A day late... Sorry. Spent most of the morning hanging around the house with my husband and Darius before we left for a concert. Totally forgot it was Friday. Woops.**

 **Darius currently is 'suffering' a cold or something. Has a slight fever and his nose is draining snot pretty badly. But as I type he his walking all around the room while pushing a monster truck around; doing jumps, backflips, wheelies and whatever else he want to claim the toy is doing. Glad he isn't too bad but still worry some. Darius probably caught this as he just started Daycare. He had fun. First day he just kinda headed off to play and barely looked back as we left. I guess he thought it'd be like ELC, I'd return in a few hours. He was there from 8 am to about 530 pm. Husband had to work so I spent most of the day unpacking and crying. The second day, he was leaning on our legs, totally uninterested in going in. Actually fought us a bit. But then they mentioned a pony was coming to visit and he looked sort of interested. It wasn't until the worker suggested holding Darius at the window to wave goodbye that we were able to escape. In the end he had a great day. After that headed to a baseball game that ended with a fireworks display.**

 **No reviews, favorites or follows. But thank you to all who are still reading on.**


	11. Bargaining

CHAPTER 11 - Bargaining

"What was that?" Wanda shrieked, trying to push past Loki to get to Hela. Fenris snarled at the duo even as Hela chuckled at the witchlings attempts to get past but Loki could see that the image was something that she hadn't planned. Having used a stone on Clint before, whether it was fake or not, Loki understood better than anyone how strong the archer's mind was. And it was nice to see that Clint was fighting on his side.

"Wanda," Loki warned when she made him take another step forward and Fenris snarled her teeth, ready to snap the prince in two. Wanda turned her head toward him, almost ready for a fight but something in his stance made her cool down and she slowly backed off. He sent her a quick thankful look, glad that she trusted him far more than Thor ever had, before focusing on the confused but intrigued Hela. "Hard to control him, isn't it?"

"Hmm. He does have a strong mind," Hela commented, revealing more than she intended too as she was lost in thought. Loki smiled, pride bursting in him. While he and Clint may never be close, it showed something in their relationship if Clint used his experience with Loki to fight others far stronger than the trickster. But just tinging on the edge of his thoughts, Loki could feel that there was another reason Clint was hard to control using magic. Hela focused on the Lie-smith, her eyes darkened as she realized what slipped past her lips. "Is that why you did not keep him?"

"No. Another friend of his... Helped," Loki danced, understanding he was treading on thin ice. No reason to tell her the full truth of the matter. Pissing Hela off would get them nowhere and fast. Hela smiled suddenly, turning her attention fully onto Loki again. Loki held in his smirk as he realized she wasn't learning how to handle Clint fast enough. Figuring now was as good a time as any, Loki shifted to a less defensive pose. Behind him he sensed Wanda doing the same and he couldn't help but feel something warm enter his system. She was taking his cues far better than any he had met before. "So, what do you want in exchange for Clint Barton's soul?"

"You would trade anything for one life? One life no more virtuous as your own?" Hela nearly quoted, her mouth quirking as she watched the implications of these words hit Loki. He paused briefly, watching her closely. How did she know that line? She certainly couldn't have gotten it from Clint. He had to work much harder and longer before he broke Clint's defenses enough to get information from him and even then, it was more a trick of words than force. Clint's mind was difficult to deal with. But could she have broken him?

"Within reason," Loki judged, wondering if he was going to regret it. This is where things could get dangerous quickly. Hela laughed at him making Wanda jump and Fenris snarl at them again.

"Oh, you are just as much fun as he!" she cooed. For some reason that made Loki bristle in again. Comparing him and Barton was not a good thing. And not just cause Clint had once been served under him or even that Clint was a mortal and he was not, it was something else. Something bigger than all those petty issues. But also something that Loki could not place.

"Hela, what do you want?" Loki repeated, carefully putting a slight edge to his voice to let her know he wasn't joking around. Hela's smile widened as if this meant even more of a game. Loki felt his eyes narrow and he worked to keep any anger and suspicion from his frame.

"Asgard. It's all I ever wanted," she purred in response. Loki frowned. While he had expected this, he had half hoped that he would be wrong. The Lie-smith had half hoped that she'd answer with something different.

"Thor and I destroyed Asgard, our home, what makes you think we'd give our remaining people up to you for one human soul?" Loki questioned pouring as much disgust as he could into the word 'human' so as to say he didn't care for Clint. Wanda tensed, her gaze angrily flicking to Loki. The trickster tried to hold his reaction to the witchling. Hela's reaction was more what he focused on. It slowly was morphing into a rage. Loki smiled, only a little more of a push. "No one is worth that much."

"I am Odin's true heir! Asgard belongs to me! Only I can lead us back to greatness!" Hela growled, Loki's last statement pissing her off more than he expected. But her response sent Loki over his own edge he hadn't realized she'd gotten close to either. He took a step forward in anger, pausing only at Fenris's warning growl. Wanda winced.

"You killed over half the people before Thor and I even got involved!" the trickster roared. Hela scoffed, waving her hand in dismissal.

"They were weak. Odin made you all weak and soft. I can make us strong!"

"The Realms were at peace!" Loki hissed, regaining some of his temper. Fenris growled, taking that as a threat. She stepped forward as though to attack but Hela placed a hand on her scruff to stop her. Behind him, Loki sensed Wanda readying her magic to help defend him. A quick flick of his wrist to her had it stop. Best not let Hela feel the extent of Wanda's power.

"PEACE! Peace is overrated. Asgard could have ruled all the realms!" Hela snapped back, gripping Fenris's fur tighter than she first intended. The wolf let out a small whine, glancing down at Hela with a confused expression.

"You're insane," Wanda suddenly whispered in shock. Loki jerked up, having very nearly forgotten she was listening in. He was so used to Thor just blazing through situations that normally Loki wasn't able to trade words like this. Hela must have forgotten as well considering her eyes narrowed just slightly as she glanced behind him.

"No. I am Queen! A proud Queen of Asgard!" Hela retorted, her voice low and dangerous.

"You are not fit to rule. Odin saw that. Asgard saw that," Loki replied, his voice low but much more wary of her temper. Hela huffed and looked away from him. Wanda winced, looking back and forth between the duo.

"Bring me Asgard or your little archer's soul will be sent to oblivion," Hela promised, her voice pitched flat. Loki paled. Behind him, Wanda gasped. Even if she didn't know what that meant, she could tell by Loki's reaction it wasn't good.

"You can't!" he snapped, his fear for Clint and his soul overpowering his need to play with Hela longer. Hela laughed at the sudden switch in his character even as Wanda glanced at him in surprise. She had been told that Loki and Clint never really got along. But Loki ignored it all and stepped forward again. Fenris followed the trickster's step but whimpered when Hela roughly pulled her back by the same scruff of fur she held earlier. "No one has the power for that."

"No one had the true Soul Stone," Hela pointed out. Loki snarled, staring at the small gem that reappeared in her hand. Seeing it again, he paused. When had she put it away? And even more important, why bring it back now? Was she trying to taunt him? No. This was reflexive. Almost as if realizing it was suddenly here, Hela twisted her fingers around it as her magic flared for half a second. When her fingers stilled, the stone was gone. "You people should be much more aware of the power you leave laying about."

"Never claimed to pay much attention to it all. My own power was my concern," Loki admitted, hiding the fact that he had read nearly every book on Asgard that involved magic and even magical items. His mind rapidly began sorting through this information to figure out what may counteract the stone in her possession. Sadly, there had never been much information on the Infinity Stones. Much of what he learned about them was from Frigga and sadly she wasn't around to help.

"Your own power could be enhanced a trillion fold or more with the right object in your hand. But Odin, he made you all fear it. Absolute power. He made you all forget. All of his male children are pathetic failures!" Hela hissed. Loki frowned. She wasn't including herself in that statement. And Loki wasn't technically Odin's son. So...

"Where is Baldr?" Loki snarled, the only other son of Odin he was aware of. Baldr, the son he himself had a part in murdering. Hela chuckled. Wanda frowned. That was a name she had never heard of. But then, she also hadn't spent much time around Thor.

"Baldr is safe. Or well, as safe as Clint Barton," the goddess muttered, her voice light and airy. Loki growled at her, unable to believe that Hela could have gotten the drop on the other god. Hela shook her head at him, her body shaking with light chuckles. "All of you are the same. 'Odin's sons! We are invincible! No one can touch us!' Well guess what! Before there was an Odinson, there was a daughter! Odin taught me everything! He readied me to be just like him!"

"And when he didn't like it anymore, he hid you away," Wanda whispered, her voice light with horror and despair as she began to realize how all this came to be. Loki looked to her quickly before focusing again on Hela who nodded. Fenris took this moment to lie down as if Wanda and Loki were not a threat to Hela. Which, they technically were not as long as Hela had the Soul Stone but seeing Fenris do this made Loki snarl at the wolf.

"Yes. He feared me. Feared what I had become under his lessons. It's why he swore to never teach another everything he knew. And it's why he failed Asgard. That's why I'll help. I'll make Asgard better than Odin's rule," Hela promised, turning away from Loki and Wanda with a wistful look.

"Thor will never give Asgard up for just one soul," Loki interjected. Hela turned back to him and smiled.

"Then, I guess Clint Barton will soon go to oblivion."

* * *

"Hawkeye, you still with me?" Phil Coulson called into the archer's ear. Clint jumped, coming aware of himself so fast it's like he snapped like a bungee cord. It didn't take much longer after that before Clint realized where he was and what was going on. He cringed.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Clint replied, trying to get his mind to focus on the task at hand. He was on a mission and he couldn't be distracted with thoughts of old memories that seemed wrong.

"Should I call this off?" Coulson wondered, his voice tinged with worry and a slight bit of humor. Clint shook his head, even though he knew Coulson couldn't see him.

"No, I'm good," Clint swore, shaking his head again when his mind refused to get out of the idea that something was horribly wrong. "Sides, who knows if we'll ever get another shot."

"Hawkeye, if you are not 100 percent, this mission is not more important than your life," Coulson reiterated as if Clint hadn't heard that nearly every mission that he did something stupid or dangerous. Clint sighed, trying to place his mind in the moment. But his mind was fighting him. There were two memories warring for what happened before Coulson called to him. One memory, as silly as it seemed, was Clint fighting off a squirrel for his breakfast and the other was when he was a young kid, escaping from the orphanage that the law had stuck him in. But like this moment, that memory was wrong. He had survived but the memory clearly was of him being eaten alive by the master's dog. Both seemed so real and fit correctly in his head but... Which one was the current one? Which one fit better than the other? "Barton?"

"I'm fine. Just... Got lost in my head for a second," Clint finally decided, certain he shouldn't tell Coulson about what was going on.

"Lost in your head? Really? I thought I heard a struggle," Coulson answered. Clint winced, his mind already reminding him of Coulson's next words from his first memory of this moment. For some reason that was more of a relief than thinking about his supposed death by dog. "And some swearing over a squirrel not eating your breakfast."

"Guess Russian squirrels are meaner than American ones," Clint sarcastically told his handler. Coulson's chuckled sounded more like relief than actual humor and it echoed through Clint's earpiece and his own memory. Shaking his head, Clint pictured the next few minutes from his memory and realized how things were supposed to go. Figuring his memory was right, Clint glanced to the right of the clearing he had been scanning over and over since getting here. A few seconds later, a woman with bright red hair stepped out, right where his memory said she would. Clint couldn't help but stiffen. _'Natasha!'_ That was why he had memories of this moment. He had lived through this mission before. His mouth clenched. When he first lived through this moment, he asked Coulson if it was really prudent to kill her. So he got ready to ask again. "Eyes on target."

"Kill order in effect. Take the shot," Coulson ordered, his voice noticeably different from his conversation with Clint before. Normally Clint loved hearing that voice but it hadn't been what he heard the first time round. Something was wrong. Clint fought against himself.

"Sir," he started to say but his voice suddenly left him. Slowly, even though he fought, his arms raised his bow up. In horror and unable to stop himself, Clint watched as he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, knocked it in his bow and aimed at the red head. Here he paused, his body now waiting for the perfect moment. Clint was half tempted to close his eyes but remembered he had promised Natasha that she would never die alone. If this was going to happen, he would force himself to watch every second.

"Hawkeye? Is something wrong?" Coulson asked as Clint grunted, still trying to fight his way out of shooting his best friend. He tried to speak but got a strangled gurgle of sound. "Hawkeye?" Again, Clint tried but then Natasha started turning. "Barton! Clint!?"

Natasha looked up, focusing on Clint's hidden spot. Last time, he had lowered his bow and they looked eye to eye. This time, Clint was still hidden by his bow and the arrow was released before Natasha could even realize it was a danger to her.

"NO!" Clint finally roared, his voice so distressed that Coulson began frantically calling him for a set rep. Clint ignored him and rushed down his perch to get to Natasha's side. By the time he got there, it was only a body. Natasha had died instantly with an arrow in her right eye, a death Natasha had never feared until she met Clint. He let out a sob of horror.

"Clint! Clint are you okay?" Coulson cried frantically into his ear. Clint shook his head as he dropped to his knees and stared down at Natasha's body.

"She didn't die last time... She... I didn't..." Clint stuttered forgetting briefly that when he missed last time the area had become overrun with Red Room assassins.

"Clint, focus!" A voice demanded suddenly. Clint froze. He knew that voice. He had heard it before. "Focus! You know this is wrong!"

"Natasha didn't die," Clint mumbled as the assassins began invading the area, intent on getting the reward for Natasha's head, even if it meant killing Clint to do so. "I didn't take the shot."

"Focus on that. This is fake," the voice told him as an assassin swung down to punch Clint. Clint frowned, looking up at the man. _'This is fake?'_ Clint thought even as the assassin's fist came down and suddenly passed through Clint. Ignoring the assassins around him, Clint searched his memory. Suddenly it flashed with the thought of a world where his family had gotten murdered, he worked with the Maximoff twins to fix the world, and then returned the world to normal. Slowly, he remembered the 'Civil War' between the Avengers and friends. And finally, he remembered the moment Thor returned to earth with the remaining Asgardians and Hulk.

"Hela," Clint growled. Around him the world vanished and turned to a strange shade of orange. The ground became wet like a small reflective pool. About five feet to Clint's left, there was man. He looked very similar to Thor, just smaller and with well... now longer blonde hair. Clint quickly got to his feet, ready to defend himself from whatever threat the man was. The man raised his hands in a universal 'calm down' manner.

"Clint Barton, my name is Baldr Odinson," the man greeted, keeping his voice tender and soft. Clint frowned recognizing that Thor always called himself Thor Odinson and wondered if this guy was actually related to him.

"Never heard of you," Clint muttered, not letting up on his defenses at all as a just in case. Baldr smiled. He had watched over his brothers since the moment he died and knew that neither really like talking about what happened.

"No. I died years before you were born. Long before things turned for the worse in Asgard," Baldr explained as if that was the reason for everything. Clint raised an eyebrow, almost using that to ask for more information. "I was killed and sent to Valhalla. Many years ago, my niece made me King of Niffleheim."

"Then Hela was set free," Clint guessed, remembering that she claimed herself as queen. Baldr shook his head.

"As a living soul, she had no power here. She did die on Asgard, Surtur killed her. I had not fully prepared for her or for her wolf. They overpowered me," Baldr replied. Clint nodded. Basically the same thing just with a few extra details in between. Finally, he relaxed a bit and looked about the area they were in. "This is the Soul Stone World. The main area of the Soul Stone's power."

"What did Hela do to us?" Clint asked, remembering his brief experience with the Reality Stone's world. It was a bit different then this world but similar enough that Clint could tell. The longer he stayed here, the more Clint remembered what happened. He remembered his conversation with Hela and her using the stone's power. And then suddenly Barney waking him.

"She sent us here. She's using the power of the stone to trap you in your memories but she is changing them. Making them worse than you remember."

"Why?"

"You are her bargaining tool," Baldr answered. Clint frowned and looked at the king.

"For who? And for what?"

"For Thor and Loki. Hela means to trade you, for Asgard," Baldr mentioned. Clint choked out a laugh at that.

"They'll never do that. Hell, Loki will probably love to just sit there and enjoy the show of me being tortured here," Clint hissed, turning his back on Baldr to start looking for a way out. Baldr smiled, his reflection catching Clint's attention in the water. The archer turned back to look at him. "What?"

"Loki is more invested in you than you think," Baldr evaded. Clint stomped over to him, splashing water all over the place.

"What are you saying?"

"That magic that has awakened inside you, it's created a small connection to Loki. It's nothing that can be used for either of you to control each other. It's more like you two are... Dependant on each other. Loki is now more caring of you than he is with Thor," Baldr replied, trying to find the right words to use. Cling grimaced, not liking how this was turning out. Baldr sighed, understanding that neither Loki nor Clint would like this outcome but neither could help it. Loki's magic inside Clint made them magical siblings. "Your destines are tied together. No matter how either of you feel for the other, you'll both find yourself helping each other and keeping each other safe."

"No."

"Yes. That is why you saw Loki speaking to Hela. He was trying to get your soul back," Baldr mentioned, reminding Clint of the moment during him being attacked by Coote where he saw Hela speaking with Loki and Wanda. He had thought that that was a figment of his imagination. Or worse, even just a hopeful wish. Clint found himself backing away while shaking his head.

"No..."

"Yes."

"Baldr, you're upsetting him," cooed a voice that had both men spinning and bracing themselves for a fight. Smiling, Hela slowly appeared a good six feet or so away from the duo. Clint's hands clenched and unclenched as if searching for his missing bow. The action just made Hela chuckle more. "Please boy. This is tiresome."

"Let me go now, before things get much worse for you," Clint warned, pushing aside all of Baldr's statements about what was going on. Hela let out a laugh.

"You truly are delightful! I do so hope that Loki does trade for you. I'll enjoy watching you from afar. Or maybe, when I make Asgard take over Midgard, I'll keep you as a pet," Hela cackled. Clint snarled at her, trying to look much more terrifying then he felt or knew he looked. Baldr stepped forward, placing himself between the duo.

"Hela, you must stop this. You are dead, you cannot rule Asgard from here," Baldr tried to reason. Hela suddenly appeared right in front of Baldr, almost in his face. Clint stumbled back, surprised but Baldr held his ground. He knew that Hela could do nothing to him here.

"I WAS MADE TO RULE!"

"You had your chance. You failed, end of story, move on," Clint mocked, planting his feet in case she did the same thing to him. Hela turned and glared at him. Baldr raised a hand to block him better.

"You are lucky that you are fun to play with. But you are also a pain," Hela hissed before raising a hand to him. Clint tensed as Baldr spun to push him away. Sadly he didn't have a chance. "Go enjoy a new memory."

* * *

 **Oh my goodness. I just can't keep a normal schedule anymore.**

 **Darius is enjoying his time at Daycare even though drop-offs are impossible. It's like he thinks we are leaving him there forever. Especially when I pick him up at 530 and he's so excited that he stops whatever he was doing to run straight at me. Then, before I can talk to anyone, he drags me out of the building. Just spent a weekend going to Monster Jam in near 100 degree heat with little to no shade. Wasn't able to finish freestyle on the first event. The night time show we saw all of, and then Sunday we left after the second competition. Hubby is doing okay. Getting tired more often. Sick of working the amount of hours he's doing cause he doesn't get to spend much time with Darius. Meanwhile, I have time without Darius but do absolutely nothing around the house. *sigh* Can't unpack anymore cause it just kills me that I have to. I want to go back in time so badly. Wow, sorry, that got dark...**

 **THANK YOU ALL who reviewed, favorited and followed! It means so much to see those messages in my email and spurs me to write more. This story still isn't anywhere close to being finished and I'm at like chapter 23. ^_^ Hope you all enjoy this and I can't wait for you all to read what happens next.**


	12. Patience Runs Thin

CHAPTER 12 - Patience Runs Thin

"It's all she wants!" Loki reiterated, his voice angry at the lack of belief to his statements. He and Wanda had returned in half the time it took to get to Hela. Mostly due to Wanda mentioning that if Clint was fighting, Hela's patience would not last. Loki had agreed and the duo rushed back as fast as they could.

"I can not lose Asgard after we just saved them!" Thor declared, looking to his friends to make sure they understood his predicament. Yes, he was good friends with Clint and wanted to save him, but he was also king and he needed to do what was best for his kingdom. Most of the ones gathered seemed to understand.

"You're wiling to give up Clint for this?" Tony demanded, his voice angry as he looked over everyone to see if they agreed. "Hasn't he been through enough?"

"I apologize, but my kingdom must come before my friendships," Thor politically replied, bowing his head toward Laura in an effort to ask for forgiveness. Laura nodded, giving it to him. She knew what Clint would have wanted and like Thor, he would not want anyone to trade so many lives for his own.

"Tis a first. You always were so self centered," Loki scolded under his breath in surprise. Everyone looked at him, shocked. Thor most of all.

"You would give up Asgard for him?" Thor asked, genuinely curious as to what Loki was thinking. Loki turned away, hiding his own surprise at his words and veracity in which he said it.

"I did not say that. I simply said that you've never cared for the kingdom over what you wanted before," Loki hissed, angry at himself for feeling the need to make Thor want to give up Asgard. He would not trade an entire population for one soul, no matter how much his heart wished he could. "In fact, you had once given up your right to the throne just so you could be with your Lady Jane!"

"Do you wish to be king?" Thor roared, outraged that Loki would dare bring this up now. Lightening sparked up the thunderer's body and it made everyone take a step away, including Loki. For a moment, Loki hesitated. At one point he wanted the crown. He wanted to be king but now he realized it wasn't that. No, he wanted Asgard to adore him like they do Thor. And after seeing how Asgard reacted with Hela, being king would not guarantee it. Thor must have noticed the indecision on Loki's face cause the lightening stopped. "Do you?"

"No," Loki answered, stepping close to Thor, almost daring him to do anything. Thor deflated rather quickly.

"No?"

"No. I am not Asgard's king. I never truly wanted the throne. I only wanted father to notice my successes like yours," Loki admitted. Thor frowned as Loki turned away from him. "And I wanted to make sure you were truly ready to be king of Asgard." No one spoke as Loki turned back to Thor with a soft smile on his face. Thor had seen this expression on Loki many times, but not anytime recently. None of the Avengers had ever seen this side of Loki. "You are."

"Loki," Thor began to say, reaching toward his brother but Loki shook his head, glancing briefly to the others gathered.

"No. We need to focus. If we are not giving Asgard to Hela, how will we save Clint?" Loki interrupted. Thor frowned, almost lost in what Loki just did. Did the trickster suddenly begin caring for Clint? Was there another power at play? Figuring this was as good a time as any, Steve stepped forward.

"What do we know about this Soul Stone that she has?" Steve questioned. "Is it anything like the Mind stone we faced before?"

"The Soul Stone is one of six Infinity Stones. Odin had believed to know where some of them had been but Hela claims there is a second set not as powerful by the same name," Loki explained, turning away from his brother to focus on the Avengers. Steve nodded.

"Two sets of stones? So what, we get this second Soul Stone and we can get Clint back?" Tony countered. Steve nodded again, liking this idea. But Wanda and Loki shook their heads no.

"Hela said that the seconds set of stones are not as powerful. They are 'impressive fakes' is the way she said it," Wanda pointed out. "She claims the Tesseract is one of the fake stones."

"Wait, what?" Tony called, glancing over to Bruce in surprise. Bruce frowned at that. Both of them had seen the immense power of the item. There was no way there could be something more powerful out there.

"How? The Tesseract gave off tons of power," Steve retorted, shocked. Wanda shrugged her shoulders.

"She didn't really explain and that's not to say that her stone isn't from the second set and she's wrong. Just... I wanted to mention it," Wanda muttered, turning away from the others.

"The Tesseract would have held the Space Stone. Odin had hidden the Ather, or Reality Stone, long ago until Jane Foster found it. It was then given to a trusted adviser. A Time Stone is here on Earth, protected by users of the mystic arts. And a Mind Stone is..." Loki listed before slowly looking to Vision, who has shifted to stand by Wanda the longer the meeting had gone on.

"Clint faced a Reality Stone with me," Pietro mentioned. When everyone turned to him, he looked away. Only Clint and he knew where the stone had gotten hidden and even then, neither tended to even think about it.

"Fury hid the Mind Stone we faced after we got it back from Deadpool," Tony reminisced. Everyone looked to him now. "Yeah, I remember that damn thing. But, how can we tell which one was real?"

"We can't. Both sets were supposedly made at the same time and with similar traits. The only way to know for certain is to pit each of them against it's double," Loki replied, remembering more of the stories Frigga used to tell him of the Infinity Stones. She had once warned him of a vision with incoming danger involving the Stones and wanted to be certain of both sets locations. Odin had only known of one.

"So we simply look for the other stone and pray that it is the real one," Steve simplified, figuring that there must be some sort of clue or hint about it.

"No one knows where it could be. Both sets of Soul Stones had been missing, or so we thought," Thor grumbled. Loki scoffed, upset that one had been hidden on Nifleheim and that Odin hadn't known.

"So, where did Hela find her's?" Steve wondered, upset that the villains always ended up with the upper hand in situations like this.

"In the Vaults of Valhalla," Loki answered. "It's why I believe that Hela make actually be using the fake."

"Okay then... Any hidden myth or rhyme about this thing?" Tony mocked, knowing the Asgardian's penchant for acting like literal gods in how they work and hide their mystical items. Loki couldn't stop the small smirk of appreciation at the joke.

"None that I am aware of," Thor said, glancing at Loki for affirmation. Loki nodded. He honestly had no idea. Odin had never known it's location and Frigga had spent a century looking but had found nothing.

"Great. So umm... How do we find this thing?" Tony wondered, voicing what everyone was thinking.

* * *

Clint gasped, coming aware of himself faster than normal. He looked around to see Hela and Baldr standing over him. Moaning, he turned away from them to stare at his exhausted face in the reflective pool. In doing so, he missed the slump in Hela's shoulders as she felt the power drain from keeping Clint in his memories.

"Damn it! Stay down you troublesome brat!" Hela cussed. Clint groaned, looking up again just to see Hela wave her hand with a flow of power and then he was lost to darkness once again.

"You'll never keep him down. He knows your tricks," Baldr chuckled, relaxing on a rock. Hela grumbled, mentally focusing on keeping Clint under for long enough. She had tried various memories from different ages so far. Any time that the agent had nearly died or had gotten injured was what she focused on. So far, he had gone through probably twenty different memories or so and Hela was not only running out of remaining memories but also out of control.

"He's a stubborn mule and you are no help... Brother," Hela hissed, turning her gaze to him briefly before focusing on Clint's soul again.

"You wanted to use him as bait. You could easily return him and choose another target," Baldr pointed out as if that was her best option. Hela rolled her eyes.

"No one is as connected to both of them as he is," she growled as Clint's soul suddenly reappeared on the ground before them again. This time he looked even weaker and while his mind was focused on the gods, Clint didn't look like he'd be getting up to face them anytime soon. Bladr watched Hela carefully as the 'queen' nearly dropped to her knees. Using the stone's power over and over this much was hurting her. Without a conduit, the stone was attacking her the more she used it. "Damn you."

"Give up. He won't stay down in torture," Baldr promised. Hela snorted.

"I just need to find the right memory," she snipped before pausing. Something occurred to her then and she glanced at Baldr with a proper smile. "Thank you for the help, brother. I think I just found the right one."

* * *

Loki silently stared over the body before him. When he left with Wanda, almost a week or so prior, it had not occurred to him to preserve the archer's body. If it had, he would have done something better than what these humans had. The body was locked in some sort of tube that Tony called a 'stasis tube'. Machines attached to the tube monitored that the body was well preserved and cooled to the right temperature. A woman called 'Shuri' had claimed that they had gotten to the archer's body just before it completely shut down. Apparently it had never actually died. Just went 'brain dead'. Everyone had been too much in shock to realize what had happened and the body's pulse was too weak to feel through his skin.

"Look at us now, Barton," Loki scoffed, wanting so badly to monologue to someone but certain that the words he'd use was not ones he wanted someone to hear. Clint's body was the safest bet. "Who would have ever thought that I'd be working so hard to try and save you?"

"He did," a voice called. Loki paused, using the tube's glass to see who had joined him.

"Ah. Miss Romanoff," Loki greeted, turning to face her as if she hadn't surprised him. The slight smile on her face showed that she didn't believe his lies. That just made him angrier but also pleased. He truly did love a challenge. Shaking it off, he nodded toward the body now behind him. "You've missed much."

"I heard," Natasha replied, moving quickly past Loki to brush a hand against the chamber. Loki slid past her as well and turned to watch the interaction. "I also heard you tracked Hela down in order to get him back."

"You've heard a lot then," Loki commented turning away from her to look around the room. Natasha's smile cooled, which Loki only noticed through the glass and sudden tension in the room.

"He told me once that he wasn't sure you were fully in control during the battle. Someone told you what to do," Natasha mentioned, her eyes seemingly never leaving the body before her. Loki frowned now, really thinking over her statement. How did Clint deduce that? Loki hadn't thought he left any hints. Nor any way for Clint to follow the connection back to his own mind. He had been careful. No matter how strong Clint was, there was no way...

"And you believed him?"

"Not at first. Seeing you now..." Natasha admitted, turning to pointedly look Loki over. She nodded. "Yeah, I believe him"

"Oh?" Loki called, half wondering how he looked those many years ago. He was beginning to think it might do him well to recall some of the actual memories or maybe footage of the events. There was something about it all that was beginning to bother him. It started when Wanda had asked of Clint's magic.

"You are not... As insane," Natasha answered, being careful with her words. Loki couldn't help but snort in amusement. She cracked a small real smile that vanished before Loki realized she typically never does that but she did it for him. "Thor told us stories. Didn't really fit with what we saw. Now though, now they fit."

"Hmm," Loki mumbled, distracted with the best way to break into Tony's computer and pull the information he needed. For half a second his eyes skirted Clint's body again. Even in death the archer continued to surprise him.

"Any clues on the Soul Stone?" Natasha asked, changing the subject. Loki shrugged, too distracted with other thoughts now.

"Without the tomes in Asgard, I have little at my disposal to find clues," Loki grumbled, displeased with the outcome. Natasha nodded, her eyebrows twitching as if gaining a new detail. Loki paused for half a moment, unsure what to say or even do next.

"Have you tried asking Vision for help?" Loki gave her a confused look, not even attempting to hide his emotions about it all. Natasha again quirked an eyebrow. "He said the stone in his head can feel the stone you have. I believe he claimed it was the Tesseract that was destroyed on Asgard."

"I don't-" Loki started to object but stopped when Natasha gave him her signature 'you're joking right' look. Loki could only sigh deeply. "Heimdall?"

"He confirmed it," Natasha replied, nodding her head. Loki sighed again and looked away from her.

"Okay. We'll test that theory with the other stone here on Earth first," Loki told her. Natasha quirked a fake smile. "Wouldn't wait it to be a waist of time."

"I agree."

"Wouldn't want him leading us in the wrong direction," Loki continued. Natasha's eyebrow now quirked.

"You're worried."

"I am not," Loki hissed. Natasha stared at him. After a moment, Loki sighed. "Hela threatened to destroy his soul. It would be like he never existed. Vanished, erased. Something worse than death. But all his connections will still be here. We will all forever long for him but never know who or what he is. Just forever longing."

"You're afraid of this?" Natasha wondered, curious now as she glanced between the body and Loki. Loki looked up and focused solely on the body.

"Not just fear it. Dread it. And dread that it will be my fault."

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" four voices crowed at the same time. Clint froze in the doorway as a smile formed on his face. Looking up, he saw his family standing before him in the entry way. Laura, flushed and dressed in a simple outfit that looked rather loose fitting. Cooper, the eldest child of now double digit 10 years old, dressed in regular shorts and tee shirt. Lila, the beautiful little 8 year old girl who has gotten into the habit of rarely speaking until she needed to say something important. And the youngest, Nate (Nathanial), the rambunctious two year old who was so much like Clint that it hurt everyone a great deal. Clint moved into the room, dropping his work briefcase off beside the door.

"Thank you," he cooed to them, opening his arms to scoop up his children while crouching low enough for the shorter ones to get a good grip. The three kids rushed him, eager to be in their father's arms. In doing so, they nearly knocked him into the now closed door behind them. Clint let out a laugh at the whole thing and just held them all tight.

"Welcome home!" Cooper greeted, breaking from the hug first. He typically always did, with no real reason as to why. Clint half believed it was because of Lila being born. Cooper never seemed to be like most 'first' children who continued to demand attention and would tend to get worse when the second child came around. He more backed off, faded a bit into the background. Not completely though, he'd just tend to go after the parent that wasn't attending to Lila.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy made lazegna!" Nate cried, bouncing all over Clint's stomach and legs in his own excitement of their shared favorite meals. Clint laughed again at the boy's attempt to say the meal's name. Lila now backed off as well, her smile showing that she'd loved to have cuddled more but didn't want to fight Nate on the idea of it.

"Oh! Lasagna," Clint corrected, a habit he'd gotten used to with his older children. The more he'd correct them with proper terms, the better they'd pronounce it in the long run. So for, Nate has been a little slower on the uptake with it all but Clint wasn't worried, yet. "Yummy. Well, lets hurry and get washed up!"

Three kiddos scampered off to the only downstairs bathroom on the further side of the hall. Clint chuckled, getting to his feet as they left. Laura shook her head and moved in for a welcoming hug of her own. Clint easily slid into her hug as he heard the sounds of his three kids fighting to be first ones to wash up. Hiding his laughter, Clint kissed his wife on the cheek.

"How was work?" Laura wondered, kissing him back briefly before turning them back toward the kitchen to get everything ready. Clint groaned having really wanted to avoid work talk today. In fact, he half regretted even going in.

"Don't get me started! Apparently, Darius thinks he should be like Iron Man and all those other idiots out there. He wanted to use his own money and power to fight villains and criminals. The Joint Security Council barged in and escorted him out," Clint moaned, rolling his eyes consistently. Laura paused, surprise evident on her face as she turned to look at him.

"Oh dear," she muttered. Clint nodded.

"Yeah. And guess who got stuck with the rest of his workload? And no extra time to finish everything?" Clint sarcastically added. Laura moaned. This meant so much more overtime. While it was good pay, no one liked having Clint work late. It was bad enough that most days he didn't get to see his kids for longer than meal and bedtime... Overtime meant he'd be up and gone before they woke and not return till long after they fell asleep.

"That bad?"

"Why do all these people think they can act like superheroes? They aren't trained for these things. The average Joe like me can't go up against aliens or evil robots," Clint moaned, wishing he could just go and slap some sense into these people. Laura sighed.

"That's why the JSC created themselves. They'll keep people safe, even if it's from themselves," Laura reasoned. Clint scoffed.

"Yeah. Like they really did did well on capturing that Captain America look alike and his 'sometimes' evil friend?"

"I thought they proved he was real," Laura replied. Clint sighed and looked at her.

"Can you honestly believe that some German dude came up with a serum that allowed another man to live over 70 years and never use it on himself? And what about his friend? Where is his serum that kept him alive? Yeah no, I call bull," Clint stated, keeping his normal language out of the conversation as a just in case any of the kids had come near them. Laura nodded in partial agreement with her husband. She knew Clint had strong feelings about it all. Sometimes she tended to forget how strong but was always reminded by stupid crap like this.

The conversation lulled as the children finally came back to show off their cleaned hands. Clint and Laura oohed and ahhed in the proper places. Before long the family was silently enjoying their dinner. Time suddenly seemed to speed by and the next time Clint was paying attention he found the dinning room cleared and Lila standing before him with an eager smile on her face. He distantly remembered Laura clearing the table and Cooper and Nate offering their help as much as possible.

"Close your eyes, dad!" Lila whispered. Clint chuckled, knowing what was coming next even as the light cut out. He laughed as Laura and his kids began singing a poor rendition of 'Happy Birthday To You'. Slowly he opened his eyes to see a half sheet cake decorated with candles and a 'Happy Birthday' slogan. Nothing about it was special but for some reason that made it more special to Clint. Laura gently placed it before him before the end of the song. Cooper and Nate slid it forward (their version of helping).

"Blow out the candles!" Cooper encouraged after singing.

"And don't forget to make a wish!" Lila added, still stuck in her fantasy that wishes come true. Clint smiled at them, looking everyone over before turning back to his cake and closing his eyes.

"CLINT! WAKE UP!" Baldr's voice echoed into his mind. Clint nearly jolted out of his seat but held himself still at the last second, just listening. "YOU ARE HAWKEYE OF THE AVENGERS!"

"Baldr?" Clint mumbled to himself, his memory slowly coming through whatever Hela created. His eyes snapped open to see the image of his home flickering and his family disappearing. The other end of the flicker was an orange like colored world with Baldr laying on the ground, reaching for Clint, and Hela with one foot on his back and angry glare at the archer. Hela raised her hand and magic flared.

"Clint?" Laura called, settling the image to the one of his home and family surrounding him. The candles were blown out but Clint had no memory of making a wish. Cooper and Lila looked at him concerned but Nate was bouncing up and down, excited for his slice of cake. Clint frowned deeply. Nate never got to live long in this home... They had been traveling. No... Running... "Is something wrong?"

"I'm... Not sure."

* * *

 **Well, apparently I like to lie. I have finally completely finished this story. Well, not finished posting of course, but done writing it. Just have to remember to come on every week and post. Trying to get back into a routine. Not going as well as I hoped.**

 **Darius is doing okay. Runny nose like mad and a lot of wet sounding coughs from phlegm. He's beginning to start walking away from us with no issues at daycare. Loves riding the bus to school on the days he goes. And while I have time to myself, I keep forgetting to write. Instead I'm getting lost in reading fanfictions of other people. *sigh***

 **Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows. Gotta get going writing the sequel. ^_^**


	13. Fake World Again

CHAPTER 13 - Fake World Again

It took Clint most of the rest of the night to shake the idea that his mind had given him. The idea that his current life was fake had to be from the mind of a psycho and Clint was certain he wasn't a psycho. Laura could tell that something was wrong with Clint. She wisely kept her mouth shut about it but it showed in her own attitude that she was upset with Clint over it. Cooper also noticed the tension in the duo. Like his mother, he didn't mention it but unlike his mother, he was able to hide his own aggravation over it all. If Lila noticed, she showed no signs, just acted completely normal. Nate was too young to know any different. He hadn't learned the signs.

Clint honestly tried his best to act as normal as possible. But he was shaken. His mind was freed briefly and now information kept leaking. Over and over. More and more. He held it all in until the moment he closed the door to Cooper's room. Then he started sorting, moving to the living room, far from his family. Laura easily followed him without him really noticing. She thankfully waiting until they reached the living room.

"What happened earlier?" she demanded, her anger showing in her words. Clint sighed deeply, having thought he was keeping it all in better than he apparently did. Slowly, he sank into a lone chair and began to rub his face with his hands.

"I don't know," he answered, too confused and busy to really understand what was going on in his head. Laura shook her head and started pacing the room.

"You blacked out on us," she described. Clint sighed. He had half wondered what the family saw when he started to loose his mind. When that voice called out to him.

"A voice... Something told me to wake up. Said this isn't real," Clint mumbled, unable to stop himself from trying to explain what was happening in his head. Laura paused, turning to face him.

"You believe it?" she wondered, her voice less angry and now just concerned. Clint looked up at her, his eyes showed what he couldn't voice. She moved toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He shook his head and looked down. Laura sighed again and squeezed his shoulder. That was enough for him and he got up and started pacing. Laura silently watched for a minute.

"Honestly... If you asked me that when I first came home, then... I wouldn't have believed it. But when the voice told me... I... Memories came to me. Thoughts... I remember Nate being born and coming home. And his first month here in this house. Then it changes. I can't remember him growing up here," Clint admitted, his pacing getting more frantic as he went. Laura frowned. He had never mentioned this before. "But... I'm certain I knew it when I came home."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her concern really growing now. Clint shook his head and headed toward the window to look out. He stood there for a moment, looking out.

"Why do we have that RV in the barn?" he countered. Laura's frown increased and she moved to sit in the seat that Clint had abandoned.

"You wanted to get it."

"Why? What was my reason? We don't go on trips. We don't go camping. Have we even used the thing since I got it?" he called, staring hard outside. Laura's face contorted and if Clint was watching her, he would have seen it briefly flash to the familiar and frustrated face of Hela.

"I don't get what that has to do with this?" she replied. Clint shook his head and turned face her.

"I don't make enough money to afford the bills half of the time. How did we have enough money for the RV? Or even that Tesla that I drove home from work in?

"We saved," Laura whispered, horrified at Clint's line of questions.

"Almost enough to buy another house? For a car? With three kids?" Clint said, his voice highly disbelieving. He never thought of him as the type to get a car as expensive as the Teslas. Yes, he imagined owning one, but he'd never spend the money. Suddenly an image of Tony Stark handing him the keys with a dismissive 'Pepper doesn't think I can pay attention to the road when the auto drive feature is on.'

"You really wanted one," Laura replied as Clint shook his head and began pacing again. It made no sense. He didn't personally know Tony Stark. They lived in two completely different states. And lived in two completely different 'world.' "Clint, what is going on?"

"I remember telling Steve Rogers he was spending too much time with my kids cause Lila accidentally called him daddy. But... I don't know a Steve Rogers outside of the criminal Captain America," Clint snapped. He shook his head again. "I mentioned Darius earlier but... I can't place what he looks like. Is he white? Black? Asian? I have no idea."

"Darius is from Brazil. He's here cause he married Molly, the lottery jackpot winner a few years ago. We went to their wedding," Laura monotonously informed. Clint frowned. The information sounded wrong. He'd never attended a wedding. No, wait he had. He... He murdered the groom later that same night. But Darius is still alive.

"I... I don't know them," Clint muttered, shaking his head again. "But I do know that Tony Stark likes his coffee black unless Pepper makes it, then he'll take one cream and four sugars... Explain how I can know that?"

"I..." Laura started to say but then stopped. Clint looked up at her to see she had frozen in place. Almost like everything around her had paused.

"Laura?" he called, his voice sounding muffled and odd to his ears. A second later, everything flickered again. Clint stilled as images distorted. He couldn't figure anything out.

"YOU INSOLENT ASS!" Hela roared, suddenly appearing at Clint's head. It was his only warning before she began getting ready to kick him. Instinct took over a his body forced him to dodge to the right, narrowly avoiding her foot and even leg as she tried to shift and catch him. As he dodged her attack, his memories rapidly cleared, hitting him much harsher than Hela's kick would have been.

"You... You stuck me in a world without Hawkeye," Clint gasped, sorting through his memories even as he backed further away from Hela. Thankfully Hela didn't move after him but she did snarl at him in anger.

"You existing makes no difference to anyone's life. They could all do without you," she sneered at him. Clint paled, unsure what to think. It was hard not to believe her when he tended to think the same thing anyways. Anytime things got hard, or went wrong in his life, a small part of his mind claimed he made no difference in the world. No matter what was going on, he couldn't help but hear it, over and over in his head.

"Hela," Baldr called, but cut off when Hela spun, waving a hand at him. She must have been using magic as Baldr suddenly seemed to be choking and couldn't make a single sound. Clint could only stare at them silently as Baldr silently screamed in agony. It was now that Clint realized just what he was up against. Loki was child's play compared to Hela. He truly was facing gods.

"I can't torture you with bad memories. Good memories seem just as wasted on you. What will keep you under?" Hela growled, turning back to face the archer. Clint gave her a weak smile.

"Letting me go," he told her. Hela snorted, her anger vanishing for half a second. Slowly she turned and started walking over to Baldr. The poor guy looked to be changing colors now. Hela waved a hand at him as she passed and he bent over coughing. As Baldr got himself under control, Clint slowly struggled to his feet as well, suddenly feeling really really weak. The two men got themselves as ready as possible to fight whatever Hela came up with next. She suddenly laughed, turning back to them quickly.

"How silly am I? I've been trapping you where you are strongest. I should have been trapping you elsewhere. Somewhere that you can't control and no one will believe either of you," Hela claimed. Clint and Baldr traded looks, confused as to what she meant. Clint stiffened when Hela stepped toward him again. "And honestly, you seem a bit lonely. Let's fix that."

-LINE BREAK-

"New York? Seriously? Why can't something happen in Florida?" Tony sarcastically called to the group as they stalked down the crowded streets following Vision. Most New Yorkers gave them a wide berth. It was strange seeing such a collection just walking down the block. Normally they'd be running. But considering many still thought of some of their group as criminals, it made it more interesting. Vision, with Wanda's help, led the way down the streets. Tony and Steve right behind them, neither really looking at each other. Thor and Loki followed behind them, with Thor continually glancing at Loki with a pleased look. Loki did his best to ignore it all but Natasha, who trailed after the group, did not. She noticed that each time Loki caught a look, he'd give a soft smile once turned.

"Stark," Steve warned, really not in the mood. It was only after hanging out with the genius for so long on building that he realized not only how much he missed the billionaire's attempts at humor but also, how annoying it was.

"Florida does have some very lovely weather but a hurricane could easily reveal a plan far sooner that it was intended," Loki pointed out. The group stopped and turned to look at him with various degrees of surprise, worry and confusion. Loki just stared back at them before shrugging. "Did you forget I was once your villain?"

"You actually considered Florida?" Tony asked, unable to help himself. Steve harshly nudged him in the side and thankfully Tony didn't really protest it.

"I enjoyed the idea of toppling such a happy place," Loki mocked. Tony raised an eyebrow at that. Loki sighed and shook his head. "Barton actually persuaded me away from there. In fact, I do believe he was the one who mentioned the Arc Reactor as having the ability to generate the required amount of energy for a stable wormhole."

"That wasn't actually a cry for attention?" Steve muttered, like Tony unable to help himself on that detail. Tony snorted, remembering his conversation with Steve on the Helicarrier as they discovered the place Loki intended to release the Tesseract. Loki gave them a confused look.

"No. Most of my plan was actually created by..." Loki trailed off, his mind flashing to Clint's soul fighting Hela's magic. He couldn't help but give a small surprised smile and a soft chuckle. Maybe Clint was much stronger than he had first thought. "By the Norns..."

"Clint did fight," Wanda mumbled, understanding what Loki was saying far before any of the others. "He just did it so subtly that no one realized it was happening."

"Hmm," Loki hummed, glancing toward Thor to see his reaction. Thor had a minor smile on his face but nodded to his brother, unconsciously saying that everything was okay. "Shall we continue on?"

"The stone is close," Vision reported, understanding that yes, this was the best time to change the subject. Loki nodded to him and with Wanda's help, Vision turned back around and started walking again. Silently agreeing that they should drop the whole thing, everyone followed after them. It was only a few blocks later that Vision stopped in front of an odd building. The address was large on the door. 177A Bleecker Street. "It's here."

"Should have known," Loki softly mumbled, looking over the building. While he had never seen the address, he had seen what the building looked like from the outside. He had nearly 30 minutes of staring at it. Thor rumbled out a chuckle at his brother's expense. Loki turned to give him a disapproving face.

"We miss something?" Tony questioned for the group.

"We have run into this man before," Thor chuckled, glancing toward Loki in amusement. Loki scoffed at him and looked away.

"Yes, yes. Enjoy laughing now but he won't get the drop on me again," Loki swore. Natasha raised an eyebrow at Loki's tone. It wasn't as harsh as it normally was. In fact, it almost sounded like Loki was enjoying the verbal spare with his brother. Much like loving siblings.

"You sure about that?" a voice behind the group called. Everyone spun to see a man (likely Tony's long lost twin) dressed in Tibetan clothing with a bright red cape draped over his shoulders. Loki and Natasha's eyes were drawn down his neck to the golden emblem resting on his chest. Something about it held power.

"I am," Loki hissed, hiding the fact that he hadn't fully sensed the man until nearly a second before he spoke. Not even with enough time to mention it to anyone else and hardly enough time to mount a defense if the man had tried to attack right away.

"I know you," Tony called, staring hard at the man. The man just watched them all until finally Tony realized it. "YOU'RE DOCTOR STEPHEN STRANGE! The asshole who refused to help Rhodey!"

"To his credit, he got into a accident an hour or so later," Natasha murmured, remembering reading about it in the newspapers. Strange nodded his thanks to her before focusing on Tony.

"The military man who was hurt in a... I believe it was called a training mishap?" Strange responded to Tony, giving him a look that suggested he knew the truth. Vision looked successfully pained as Wanda patted his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Tony glanced at Steve and Steve looked at him, both of them turning away at the exact same moment. Natasha rolled her eyes. Knowing that his point was made, Strange nodded to the group. "Right. So I'm guessing you are all here for the Time Stone?"

"What do you know of it?" Thor questioned, his voice curious rather than threatening. Strange gave him a welcoming smile before doing some various hand motions in front of his chest. Fearing an attack, everyone but Vision, Wanda and Loki, readied for attack. Ignoring them, Strange continued on and ended with his hands in an odd shape, covering over each other. As he pulled them back, the amulet on his chest began to shift and move, rather quickly revealing a glowing green gem. Vision suddenly hissed in pain as his own stone began flaring it's power in connection with the other one. Strange's eyes crinkled before undoing his spell and sealed the stone away.

"More than one might think," Strange finally replied. With a nod to everyone, he walked through the group. As he started up the steps to his building, the doors opened. Tony made an offhand remark about his doors doing the same thing but it was lost as Strange spoke over him. "Lets discuss the rest inside."

Slowly the group entered inside. As they entered, they looked about, unable to help themselves. The room they entered into was a completely open entry way. All along the walls were various paintings and different objects either hanging or sitting on display. Tony headed off toward a vase looking thing with Steve a few steps away. Vision and Wanda stayed closer to the door. Loki shifted to stand behind but a few steps away from Dr. Strange. Thor stayed a few steps away from him. Natasha ended up being in between Steve and Vision and Wanda. Strange turned to face them all, clapping his hands together to get their attention.

"So, why do you want to know about the Time Stone?" Strange asked them, eager to get to the point right away. It was dangerous having three stones so near each other for long periods of time and he was eager to quickly send the other two away.

"My sister has come into possession of the Soul Stone," Thor began, figuring Strange wasn't interested in all of the minor details.

"No she hasn't," Strange quickly replied, stopping Thor from saying more. Thor frowned as everyone gave Strange a confused look. Loki snorted, rolling his eyes.

"How are you so certain that she hasn't?" the trickster wondered. Strange glanced backwards at him before noticeably dismissing him and facing the others again. Loki tensed at the action and when he went to step forward and attack him, Thor held up his arm. After glaring at his brother, Loki backed down.

"The Soul Stone has certain protections on it. Hela would not have met most of them. The most important one, being alive when going to get it," Strange explained. Loki raised an eyebrow curious how Strange knew about it. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't know where the real one is. I just know of the protections placed on the original. The Sorcerer Supremes before me left a lot of records."

Instantly, the entire group shifted places to a different part of the mansion. Tony yelped, suddenly right next to a balcony that he was certain hadn't been there before and certainly hadn't been in view from their original place. Steve, only a few steps away, jerked backwards into a display case that jostled but didn't fall over, the item inside hardly moving. Beside him, Natasha threw her hands out to steady herself, nothing in the way. Vision went incorporeal before taking a small step to the side, having been nearly a small movement away from hitting a case. Wanda's power flared, keeping her from being affected by the sudden transfer as she floated lightly in the air. Thor stumbled into a bookcase, reminiscing about the last time Strange had done this to him.

"I asked you last time to stop doing that," Thor growled at the sorcerer. Strange nodded, having briefly forgotten as he started searching a different bookcase near him. Thor glanced around, noting where everyone was but Loki was missing.

"Really? You think yourself funny?" came the missing trickster's voice from a muffled position behind Thor. Thor turned to look as Strange chuckled to himself. Upon seeing his brother, Thor couldn't help but laugh as well. Loki had been shifted further than the others and locked into an empty display case. The trickster pressed his hand on the glass, looking none too amused at the situation.

"I thought it fitting," Strange replied before waving a hand. The lock clicked open and as Loki was leaning on it, it flung open, making the trickster stumble into the room. "Ah, here."

Again the group jerked back to the room they had first entered. Everyone was within inches of where they had placed themselves before. A few seconds after arriving, there was a loud thump. Just guessing, most of them turned to where Loki had been and correctly, he was on his knees.

"Sorcerer, you are declaring war," Loki warned, getting to his feet in anger. Judging by Strange's smile though, he wasn't concerned with this idea. Instead, he rather much ignored it. Thor tensed, ready to stop his brother from acting out but Loki merely shook his head. Loki wanted to defend his honor, but he wouldn't do anything to mess with there current mission. Strange was annoying, but Loki was focused on the long term.

"When the universe was created, the original Infinity Stones were made. Each stone represents an important part of the universe. Space, Mind, Time, Soul, Reality and Power. Each stone was sent far from each other in the hopes that no one soul could collect them," Strange began explaining, the room darkening to show an animated description of what Strange was talking about. No one spoke. "Recently, the stones have been drawing closer to each other."

"Hela claims that there is a second set of stones," Wanda pointed out as Strange's display vanished and the room returned to normal. Strange nodded, having read that as well.

"Once in the history of the Sorcerer Supremes before me, the stones were all gathered together. After realizing the immense power of the six stones, a group of well meaning... Individuals, used the Reality Stone to pull a second set, a bit weaker set, into our world. This was done to make it near impossible to know which stone belongs to the right set. If the stones become intermingled, all the stones will be destroyed," Strange told them. Vision took that moment to take a step away from Strange and Loki. Loki snorted and shifted subtly closer to Strange as if destroying the stones could be used in revenge against him. Natasha glanced at his with a frown and Loki merely gave her a small smile. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay, how can we tell which is which?" Tony inquired. Strange shrugged. If the Sorcerer Supreme before him knew that answer, they were smart enough not to write it down. No one could tell.

"Don't know," he answered, dropping the book beside it. It vanished before hitting the ground and the others could only assume it was returning to where Strange had gotten it from.

"Seriously?" Tony snapped. Strange again shrugged.

"Considering this stone led me to yours and the one in Loki's possession, I assume these three are part of one set," Vision guessed, nodded to the two magic users in turn. Loki stiffened when Thor turned an angry glare at him. He forced himself to give his brother his 'villainous' smile.

"Oh come now brother. You asked me to go through the vault to restore Surtur. You can't honestly think I wouldn't find something there that I would want," Loki chastised. Thor rolled his eyes and made a grumbling noise but said nothing more on the matter. To be honest, it was actually rather soothing to know where the Tesseract was. It needed protection, especially now that the Vaults had been destroyed.

"Only way to test that theory is to find one of these repeat stones," Steve pointed out, ignoring the sibling fight.

"You said Fury hid the Mind Stone that was used on all of you before," Wanda mentioned, pointing to Tony. The genius jerked up, knocking into the 'vase' beside him. Suddenly the cape on Strange's shoulders flew off and nabbed the vase before it crashed on the ground. It then gently flew back to Strange, who collect the item and placed it on a new pedestal as the cape returned. Trying to ignore the item as much as possible, Tony pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began messaging Fury.

"So, we get this Mind Stone and see if Vision can sense it like these other two?" Natasha summarized, moving forward.

"If any of the stones respond to it," Strange corrected. Loki bristled.

"You were not invited to help," the trickster hissed. Strange turned to look at him. This time it was getting very personal. Loki was not going to work along side the sorcerer and Strange didn't seem to pleased with it either but was more willing to do it. Thor glanced at his brother with a frown.

"You'll need me. I have more knowledge on the stones than you," Strange retorted.

"You'll be in the way," Loki snapped, stepping forward. Thor moved to stop him but Loki waved him off. This wouldn't get further than words. He was certain of that. Strange arched an eyebrow and shifted to face the trickster.

"Are you threatened by me?" Strange asked, his voice light and curious.

"We have enough magic users. Stay home. Protect Earth from your pathetic villains," Loki replied. Both of them stepped forward.

"Think I can do better than you?" Strange challenged.

"Doubt it." Again they moved closer.

"Want to test that theory?"

"Any time," Loki snarled. The two moved the final steps toward each other and glared into each other's eyes. Before anyone could even breath a word to stop them, Loki's eyes suddenly rolled back and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. Strange quickly stepped back, hands raised in defense.

"I didn't do it!" he called.

* * *

 **In my defense... I got into a huge writing spree... and had some friends move in.**

 **In other news. THE STORY IS DONE! The whole thing has been completed and I have started the squeal. And, as my profile shows, I have two other stories in the works that are separate from the 'After' and 'Clint is' universe. One of them is a series that I'm gonna called 'Trapped.' This story is based around the same premise of author dentalfloss called Through the Glass. It is an amazing read so please check it out.**

 **Darius is doing well. The whole household is currently passing around some type of weird cough that doesn't seem anything like a cold. Kinda more like something is trapped in your throat but you can't get it out. We have a new baby in the house (NOT MINE). I'll have to ask permission to give any news on him, but he is ADORABLE! Darius adores him and when none of the adults can get him, he'll go over and attempt to sooth him. It's so cute. Not much has really changed with them here and they cooked an OUTSTANDING dinner last night. IT WAS AWESOME!**

 **Think that is all. Again, thank you to all those you reviewed, favorited and followed. Showing the love helps me with ideas and spurs me to write even more stuff for you all!**


	14. Time Stone or Soul Stone?

CHAPTER 14 - Time Stone or Soul Stone?

"My Prince, your mother wishes me to inform you of a guest waiting on you," called the once familiar voice of Loki's personal guard, Hafr Tokisson. He was a trusted confidant who knew more about Loki then much of his own family. Hafr was a very caring soul. Loki sat up from his desk chair so quickly that he almost tipped it over. Blinking rapidly, the trickster tried to mentally process what had just happened to him. He had been only seconds before verbally sparring with Dr. Stephen Strange and now suddenly he was here. And here seemed strangely similar to his bedroom on Asgard. His destroyed bedroom on Asgard. "My Prince?"

"Yes, Hafr, I heard," Loki replied, keeping his voice steady so as to not betray that he was shaken. He could still feel the immense magic that brought him here but he couldn't trace it back. It seemingly vanished in thin air. Distracted with trying to figure out what happened to him, Loki lost track of time.

"The Queen calls for you," Hafr repeated, waking Loki from his thoughts again. Loki stilled. He hadn't really heard the words Hafr had first said. But now he ran it all over in his head again.

"The queen?" he couldn't help but call.

"The All-Mother, Lady Frigga," Hafr answered, his voice turning confused and worried. Loki shook his head. Might as well go through with this plot.

"Inform her I will be along shortly," Loki ordered, his voice turning to his normal tone when he spoke to Hafr.

"Yes, my Prince."

Loki waited at his desk until he heard Hafr walk away from his room before getting up and looking around his room for clues as to what was going on. Everything looked as it had been long before Thor's coronation. Could Strange have used the Time Stone to send him back? No, certainly not. Strange wouldn't dare send someone back to a time when they were certainly stronger than him. Could something have happened? Something he could not remember? A fight? Did someone else steal the Time Stone?

Knowing he wasn't going to get answers just sitting here in his room, Loki raised up his concealing spell, vanishing from view. He knew now that Frigga could see through such spell but he didn't dare make adjustments to it... yet. He may need her on his side for whatever was going to happen. Slowly and carefully, Loki exited his room and headed off to his mother's quarters, the only place she could have called him from. Like he expected, no one saw him passing them. He arrived at Frigga's waiting room to see Hafr standing right in the entry way, talking to someone inside.

"Yes, All-Mother. I shall speak with him again," Hafr stated before bowing and then turning to leave. Loki had to dodge him so that the guard didn't crash into him and ruin his spell. Hafr didn't even notice and just continued down the hall like nothing was the matter. Loki watched as the guard headed toward his own room. For a moment he paused at the door to his mother's room, waiting by the side of the doorway, spying, listening.

"I'm sorry about that dear. My son has always been a bit..." Frigga trailed off. Loki could tell she was trying to find the right word or words to use next. He pretty much was certain that she already knew he was there. There was a tink of ceramic running into each other. She was serving the guest tea. He couldn't help but smile at that.

"Independent?" came the voice that Loki knew he should never hear on Asgard. The shock of hearing it along made him loose his concentration on his spell and it rapidly dropped even as he stepped into the doorway to look at the owner of the voice.

"Clint Barton?" Loki incredulously cried, staring at the archer. Clint was dressed in his original S.H.I.E.L.D uniform that Loki first met him in. He looked a bit younger than Loki had last seen him and he also seemed a bit tired. Upon Loki's words, both Frigga and Clint looked up to see him. Surprisingly both of them had relieved looks on their faces. Clint's was easy, a face he knew. Maybe even that Loki admitted to knowing him. Frigga though, she was harder to figure out.

"Oh good. You do know this Midgardian. He had claimed that Thor would know him as well but..." Again Frigga did not finish her statement. But the purpose of it still came through. Thor did not recognize Clint, but somehow Clint knew of Thor and himself. So this wasn't the Time Stone's doing. Something else was at play.

"Yes, mother. I... I know this man," Loki agreed, his eyes never moving off of Clint. His features changed to giving Clint a look that begged him to keep silent. Clint slowly closed his eyes, knowing that Frigga was looking between them both. Loki understood that this was his sign that he understood what Loki was asking.

"That is good to hear. You know how the All-Father would react to his being here. Please, keep a better watch on him," Frigga warned, her voice light hearted. Loki frowned. Frigga hadn't spoken like this in a long time. She was the one who made him interested in Midgard in the first place. Yet now she was speaking like any Asgardian. Like Midgardians were to be treated as simple pets. Frigga turned to Clint with a smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope to see you again."

"You as well," Clint replied, quickly standing with her and bowing as regally as he could manage. Frigga chuckled at him even as she nodded and headed to leave the room. Her path brought her by Loki's side and she paused.

"Be careful how you act, strange magic is surrounding this one," Frigga told him, her voice edging on dangerous. Loki nodded, knowing the full meaning of what she was saying. Clint was still affected by everything that had happened to him. He was soaked in power that was not his own. Frigga left quickly after her warning. Once she exited the room, Clint moved to speak but Loki held up a hand. He got most of his ideas in sneaking from her. He waited a bit. Nearly five minutes before he entered the room further and waved his hand to cast a spell. Clint stiffened at the sudden display. Loki frowned at him. Did the archer sense what he did? Or was it simply the movement itself that unnerved him?

"I have cast an enchantment on this room so no one can hear us speak," he explained, wondering if Clint could now feel magic and he was disturbed by this. Clint simply nodded. Loki would have to study this more. "What is going on?"

"Hela," Clint answered before pausing. Loki nodded. "I think."

"Should have figured it out myself," the trickster cussed, turning away from Clint. Clint simply watched him. This wasn't the Loki he remembered. Something had changed.

"She's been trapping me in my memories. But each time distorting them just slightly so that it would make me die, or so that I'd want to stay in it," Clint said. Loki frowned having not expected that. It did explain why everything was just exactly as he remembered. It was cause it was all from his own memory. "She's been doing it to distract me. Keep me busy from trying to get free."

"How do you fight your way out?" Loki wondered, knowing that the only reason they were trapped like this is because Clint did what he always did. He fought, he woke up each time. She couldn't keep him under. It was as he had explained to Hela before. Clint was a strong soul. But looking the archer over now, Loki could sense something he hadn't really noticed. Clint shrugged, having never really thought about it before.

"I... I guess I realize that the memory is wrong and then... I don't know, I remember?" Clint guessed. Loki frowned, realizing that was not what he was going for.

"So you typically don't remember everything before getting trapped?"

"It's more like... I seemingly wake up from a dream, both going in and coming out. Seconds before and after it's like a dam..." Clint decided. Loki muttered something under his breath that Clint couldn't hear. "I can sometimes remember as the memory goes on, but it never makes sense until I go to get out."

"Damn it. That doesn't work," Loki snarled, growling more to himself than anything. Clint frowned, distracted.

"I can't get out. I've tried. There is some sort of block..." Clint continued. Loki shook his head and faced Clint.

"You've been stuck in your memories before. This time, it is not your memories. Breaking out of here is going to be different than what you are used too," Loki hissed. Clint sighed, understanding what Loki was meaning. "You've never been to Asgard. You never met my mother. My personal guard died long before you were even born."

"This is..." Clint began, trailing off as it really made him aware of what was going on. He had arrived in the cities outer limits. A random Asgardian had found him, demanded to know who he was. Clint had claimed he was friends with Thor, so he was brought to the palace. Thor took one look at him and scoffed 'why would I know a Midgardian? Never mind be friends with one' the thunderer had claimed. Considering everything, Clint hadn't really stopped to think about it.

"Yes. This is all my memory."

"I thought... Jesus... I thought maybe hers... Not you..." Clint bemoaned. Loki sighed, looking around his mother's room. Frigga tended to change her waiting room depending on her moods. And more importantly depending on the seasons. Small details stuck out to him, things that only he might notice. Things he had once noticed before but was never concerned with.

"We are before even Rogers' time," Loki mumbled almost more to himself than to Clint. Thankfully Clint heard and understanding dawned on him. Thor and Loki were thousands of years old, there were bound to be many memories of Asgard before Clint was born. Heck, even before the oldest Avenger, Steve. Loki slowly began walking to the far side of the room, behind where Clint had been sitting drinking tea with Frigga.

"What? When?" Clint asked, making sure he understood what Loki was saying. It was odd to be in such a random setting.

"This..." Loki started to say, pointing to a painting on the wall that he was moving toward. Clint turned to look at the painting and gasped in surprise.

"Baldr!" the archer cried in surprise. Loki stilled, glancing at the archer.

"What?"

"The... It's Baldr. Your... Well... Thor's brother," Clint stammered, suddenly self conscious of what he was saying and certainly who he was saying it too. Loki turned to face him, his eyes narrowing. At this time, he still considered himself Asgardian. In fact, he'd rather have never learned about his true ancestry.

"I doubt my brother ever mentioned our younger sibling... So how do you know him?" Loki inquired, his voice dark and dangerous. Clint glanced at him before looking back at the painting. Somehow the archer could tell that Loki wasn't going to attack him. It was just that this whole thing was a sore topic.

"Baldr... He... He was in the Soul Stone world with me. He called himself the current King of Niffleheim," Clint explained. Loki frowned. It made sense that his daughter would put in an inter-rum King, but he never expected it to be his own brother. "He's been calling out to me. It's usually his calls that help me break out."

"You couldn't... He... No," Loki mumbled, trying to make sense of what had happened. What was going on and who else Hela had affected in her attempt at power?

"He told me that he died long before I was born," Clint added, his voice softer. Again he glanced at the painting. If he was trapped in Loki's memories in a time long before he was born, could...?

"He did... I... I accidentally killed him," Loki muttered, interrupting Clint's thoughts. Clint faced him, shocked.

"What?"

"I was jealous of Baldr. Like me, he tended to dabble in magic. Unlike me, he was accepted. Loved. He honestly did both, fought with Thor and his band but also learned magic on the side. How come he could be accepted but I had to be shunned?" Loki described, shaking the negative thoughts from his head before he got too deep into them. Clint patiently waited, listening and searching his memory as to why this was suddenly familiar. "One day... Either it's gonna happen soon, or it just recently happened as mother removed the painting soon after, Baldr used his magic to see his future. It's a dangerous spell because most times just knowing your future draws you closer to it."

"Self fulfilling prophecy," Clint couldn't help but whisper. Loki nodded, ignoring the fact that Clint interrupted him.

"He saw his death. Didn't see what killed him or even who, just that he died. Mother feared any of us dying. She hadn't had to deal with any death of the family, yet," Loki explained. Clint gasped, making the trickster look at him. The archer knew this tale. Not long after meeting Loki and Thor, Clint had researched them. As he got to know Thor better, he learned a lot of the stories were true but slightly off as well.

"This is Norse mythology... She pleaded with the gods and goddesses of everything but mistletoe," Clint murmured. Loki sighed. Of course this tale would be brought to Midgard. It was an important moment in Asgardian history. "Baldr couldn't be killed by sword, magic, hands, rocks, nothing... Asgard... Well, the other gods and warriors made a joke of it all."

"Yes. She swore oaths with many items. Many Asgardians, giants and whoever visited, enjoyed months of attacking Baldr, unable to kill him. It wasn't for a long time before I realized Mother's error. By then, Baldr was as cocky as Thor, before he got banished. I couldn't handle it anymore. After obtaining a measly twig of mistletoe, I went to a blind warrior, Hodr," Loki said. Clint raised an eyebrow at the name, certain he shouldn't say anything. Loki smirked, knowing what Clint was thinking. While he had never seen it himself, when the trickster had used his magic to watch over the Avengers, he had learned of the show _Game of Thrones._ "Yes, I know how it sounds... I helped him aim at my brother. It was just supposed to go through Baldr's arm. That is where I aimed it."

"Fate intervened?"

"The Norns... Yes. The mistletoe went right through his heart," Loki replied.

"Myth said that the gods went to Hel to reverse his death. She agreed if everyone cried for him. But you, in disguise, didn't," Clint recalled. Loki snorted, shaking his head.

"My, my. I really was always cast the villain," he called, bemused. Clint shrugged. It certainly wasn't his fault that it happened. "No... I mourned. I did cry. Tokk, a real giantess, refused to cry. I was her messenger and the only one there to hear her refuse. She laughed at me. Hearing her laugh, I murdered her. I hoped that it might help, that her being dead before the deadline would still allow him to return. But Tokk had verbally refused and somehow Hel had heard. No matter how much she wanted too, Hel was forced to follow the rules. She could not restore him. Hodr was attacked and killed for his part, but not before he explained my involvement. And considering no one really knew Tokk, it was determined that I lied. The God of Lies just lied again, how convenient for everyone."

"So, you're not really called the God of Lies because you always lie?" Clint wondered. Loki snorted again, shaking his head.

"No. How can I be the God of Lies if I always lie? No one would ever trust that I could speak the truth and so my purpose would be ruined by people always doing the opposite of what I say. Honestly, my ability is more like I can tell a lie apart from truth. When I first met you, you could have claimed that your name was Jeremy or something stupid like that. Anyone who didn't already know you would believe that. But me... I almost get like a twinge of pain. Somehow I sense that your words are a lie," Loki explained, unsure if it all made sense or not. Clint nodded, understanding it better than Loki would think.

"So by sensing the lies all around you, you learned how to twist the truth to suit your needs," Clint realized. It was almost like Loki should have been the god of spies... Now Clint really wanted to know who that was so he could start thanking them for his and Natasha's skills. Loki smiled, glad that Clint was getting what he was talking about. He had tried to explain it to many others before and no one had understood it as quickly as Clint. Then again, not many cared to ask about it either.

"Can't actually have seen the murder if my eyes were closed... The entire time I was doing it," Loki answered. Clint snorted. It was the truth. "No one in Asgard thinks about twisting their questions when I answer something different from what they expect."

"Did you ever not want to be a trickster?" Clint wondered, hitting at the heart of the problem with Asgardians. Loki sighed.

"When born, we are... Imbued with out powers. The Norns choose for us. As we age, the powers grow stronger and we are given our titles. It is not a choice any of us make," Loki pointed out. Clint frowned.

"How does that work?"

"Honestly... I haven't had long to think much on it. It is just something we all know and understand," Loki admitted.

"Okay, well... How do you purpose we get out of here?" Clint asked, figuring now was the best time to change the subject off of Loki and his history. The trickster couldn't stop the relieved smirk from appearing on his face.

"Well... I don't know..."

* * *

"LOKI!" Thor roared, rushing to the trickster's body. Strange dropped to his knees, focusing on the body and looking for any signs as to what happened. Wanda was the next to come over, hoping that her limited time with both Loki and Hela would help her figure it out.

"Jesus," Tony mumbled, the phone slipping away from his ear for a moment. There was a distant sound of an angry male voice calling Tony's name, but most of the group ignored it. Natasha turned quickly to see Tony just standing there.

"Stark! Focus on that phone call," Natasha hissed, knowing that most of them couldn't be much help in this situation. This was more meant for the magic users. Tony nodded at Natasha, raising his phone and quickly explaining as much as he could to the man on the other end.

"It's Hela," Wanda called, her red power flaring around the body for only a moment. Strange sat back, not knowing if Hela could use the Soul Stone's power to put her own soul into Loki's body or not. That would put them all in extreme danger. Not that that wasn't most of their lifestyle.

"His body is alive, but his soul is missing," Strange needlessly pointed out. "Move back. I'll cast a spell to preserve his body until we can return his soul."

"Why? I thought he was a danger," Thor growled, even though he did as he was asked. Strange gave him an angered look but said nothing as Wanda backed away as well. He then quickly cast his spell and suddenly Loki's body was covered in a golden glow with odd looking symbols. No one could easily understand any of them. When Strange finally stopped moving his hands and looked to be resting instead, Thor moved closer but did touch as a just in case. Strange nodded his head to Thor, glad that the thunderer didn't interrupt the spell. It wouldn't be for an hour or two before someone could easily touch the body without the spell disrupting.

"That spell will keep his body alive for as long as we need but no body can last forever without a soul. There is a time limit on this," Strange informed the group. None of the group wanted to ask about the time limit. It was already worrisome that Clint had been gone for just a little over a week.

"Hela can take a soul from a different Realm that she hadn't affected before? What is stopping her from getting all of us?" Wanda asked, looking around the others for some sort of answer. Strange looked away and to the floor. Apparently, as the only one with information on the Infinity Stones, he didn't know that answer.

"She wants something from us. And she'll leave us alone until she gets it," Steve determined. It was the most likely answer. And Loki had been one to verbally make himself contend with Hela, so it also made sense that she'd go for him next.

"The Soul Stone has immense power that no one fully understands. Out of all of the six stones, I would say that one is the strongest. But most power comes at a cost. When we use our spells, we also drain our own energy to get them done. The Soul Stone may work the same way and she needs time to recoup her energy. Lets use this time wisely," Strange warned.

"So, how can we beat it?" Steve inquired, looking around at everyone for ideas.

"I will go through all the books I can. For now, continue on our first path. Bring the other Mind Stone here. We will test on the remaining two stones in our possession," Strange basically ordered of the group. Steve raised an eyebrow at the man's tone as he seemingly tried to take control of the team. Thankfully, everyone else seemed to sense it as well and turned to Steve for confirmation that that was what they were going to be doing. Considering Steve was use to battling Thor and Tony for role as leader, it wasn't going to be much harder to add Strange to his fight. But, Steve honestly liked not having sole leadership onto him. He would always ask the others for advice on how to move next and sometimes even agreed with the others on the plans they made. And right now, he agreed with Strange.

"Okay. Tony, what did Fury say about the Mind Stone?" Steve called, turning to the genius who had hung up his phone only moments prior. Tony raised an eyebrow at him, his eyes quickly glancing at Strange who suddenly vanished into midair. Shrugging off the power struggle much like Steve did, Tony focused on Steve.

"One eye wants to see me in person and make sure I'm not some sort of fake or other super spy stuff. With all this nonsense flying around, I agree this is the safest bet. I'm to meet him in a few hours and I'd like Stalin to come with," Tony replied, nodding to Natasha when he mentioned her sometimes nickname. Steve glanced to Natasha, making sure she was okay with this. Natasha nodded. Again, it made sense. Natasha would be one who could tell if Fury was a copy, just using Tony for information. But mostly, her and Steve were surprised that Tony actually agreed with Fury on something. It was something they had always been worried about.

"Wanda," Steve called, glancing at her. Wanda focused on him. "I want you helping Strange. You saw the stone and know a bit about what Hela is doing with it, help him determine the best way to deal with it. Vision, you and I are gonna call T'Challa again. We might want to shift our base from New Asgard to Stark Tower or maybe even here. Keeping Clint and Loki close is priority now."

"Understood, Captain," Vision answered. Thor glanced up at Steve.

"Thor, return to your people," Steve ordered, turning his voice softer as he knew the pressures the thunderer was under. Thor frowned at him. There was no way he'd leave his brother's body. "We can call you with news but now that Loki is down as well, your defenses are weaker there. Hela wants Asgard, that may be the first place she'll strike."

"You will call when you go to attack?" Thor growled, almost demanding the ability to fight as well. Steve gave him a soft smile.

"I'm not going to deny an Asgardian his revenge," Steve promised. Thor's smile after that was much more forgiving and dangerous than should be seen together. Nodding his head, Thor glanced once more at his brother. He truly couldn't leave him. Steve frowned, but didn't comment. There was no need to rush the thunderer. New Asgard was still in transition phase and Thor hadn't been leader long. Maybe they didn't fully need him right now.

* * *

 **Well, it has been a very interesting and productive week for me. I have a series nearing completion before even posting one chapter, another story about halfway done AND the sequel to this story about halfway done as well! yay!**

 **Darius has been a sweet boy this week. Hardly giving us too big an issue. My godson though... He's been giving his mom and dad lots of sleeping issues. Other than that, as I am in the midst of trying to go to bed, I'll give a better update next week.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows!**


	15. Learning the Truth

CHAPTER 15 - Learning the Truth

Loki swiftly brought Clint back to his room. Like before, they didn't run into anyone. Not even any of the palace guards. Surprisingly, it wasn't just Loki who was relieved over this fact. Clint really didn't want to run into any more Asgardians. The ones he had run into earlier in the day hadn't really shown off the others in a good light. They had been dismissive and snide with him, treating him nearly worse than dirt.

Once in Loki's room, Clint was almost shocked to feel the amount of magic cast all over the room. Freezing just past the doorway, Clint looked about as if he could see it all just hanging about. Everything in the room looked typical and normal compared to how Clint had envisioned Thor and Loki's room. Well, how Thor had pretty much described Loki's room. Not much was different from Frigga's room except Loki had more books and less paintings than hers. It was almost like a little bit of Loki's personality shined through.

"Wow," Clint couldn't help but say. Loki paused to look at the archer, half wondering it if was the elegance in the room that stopped him. But when Loki looked, Clint already had his eyes closed. Frowning, Loki shifted closer and immediately realized what was going on. Clint was reaching out with his senses, trying to feel the individual spells that Loki had cast many years ago. Loki raised an eyebrow at the archer before reality struck him. Clint was balancing on a dangerous line.

"The spell I cast in my mother's room is also here on all of my rooms. It is done over three times to make sure no one can listen in, even my mother and father. I also have a spell that alerts me to anyone coming into my room. It was cast after Thor entered my room when I was deep in middle of casting a spell. His interruption made it backfire on me and both of us almost died. Another spell will bar a person from entering my room if they mean me harm or ill will," Loki explained, wanting to stop Clint from doing something he shouldn't. But it made him curious. Could Clint naturally be a magic user? Clint's eyes snapped open and it was clear that the archer hadn't realized what he had been doing. "There are other minor spells but none that are fully active right now."

"Oh," Clint called, sounding stunned as he tried to recall what he had been doing.

"You must be careful," the trickster warned, making Clint frown. The two looked up at each other. Shaking his head, Loki moved deeper into his room. Clint followed, shutting the door behind him. "Drawing out your senses to read another's magic can sometimes activate your own magic potential."

"What?" Clint cried, shocked and shaken at this idea. He hadn't realized what he'd been doing and it was a frightening possibility that he could have accidentally activated his own magic. It had been mentioned a few times that there was a strong presence of magic on him but everyone seemed to agree it was other people's magic.

"You haven't yet, don't worry. But you were dangerously close. The stronger the caster's magic, the more of your own magic is needed to figure out what they cast," Loki added. Clint gulped. It seemed dangerous and bad that he honestly had no idea what he was doing. No, it was more like he had no control over it. Just the second he walked into the room, he started trying to figure out the magic surrounding him. Loki's eyes narrowed. "Wanda warned me that you don't want to become a magic user. But if you did, I... I am willingly to help you."

"Uh... Thanks but I'm good," Clint replied, unable to hide the shudder of revolution. Loki nodded, having figured as much but also knew that even hearing the offer was better than nothing. Magic was going to be a very sensitive subject around Clint. But Loki was starting to get really curious. What could Clint do? How much of the power was his own?

They stayed in silence for a while thinking over everything they had been talking about even as they moved into the back room, Loki's actual bedroom. Again, Clint shut the door to the sitting room now. Loki shifted to go and sit on his bed, concentrating on working through whatever Hela had done to them. Once Loki shut his eyes, Clint began looking around this room, studying everything in sight. Most of it was the bookcases stacked ceiling to floor full of books. Clint noted 90 percent of them were about magic. One book in particular kept drawing his eyes to it over and over. Finally, he gave in and reached for it. Just before he touched it, Loki spoke up.

"Be careful. Some of those books have enchantments on them," Loki called without even opening his eyes. Clint stilled his hand, fighting with himself to try not and scan the shelf with his limited magic. "I had to do it when Thor began taking an interest in randomly stealing my books. For his and other's safety, I needed to make it so only well trained magic users could read them. With the power inside of you... The enchantment might not work and some spells could make you a user just by reading it."

"The power inside me?" Clint couldn't help but repeat, moving away from the bookshelf as if the whole thing was designed to kill him. Loki nodded, finally opening his eyes to look at Clint.

"The power you had when we first met was mostly similar to an infant here on Asgard. Weak here but compared to other Midgardians, rather strong. That magic grew as it drained and converted some of my own while I used the Mind Stone on you. Now, every time you run into magic or magic is used on you, your magic converts it into your own as a safety measure," Loki explained. It was partially true. Or at least, that's what Loki figured. It would be nice to test his theory.

"Is... Is there any way to stop it?" Clint wondered, his voice soft and almost begging. Loki sighed deeply. This was a topic he knew little on. Many who found out they could use magic tended to train almost right away. He couldn't think of a single being outside of Clint who wanted to rid themselves of their magic.

"I don't think so, without you doing it yourself. But that will make you a user. And I fear that if I mess with your magic's natural reaction to other magic, it may end up even worse for you," Loki answered. Clint frowned, his face worried and partly frightened. Loki internally winced, suddenly realizing that it was his fault that Clint feared magic so. And it was also likely his fault that the archer's magic was acting in this fashion. He sighed. "Don't worry. You can easily gain power without ever becoming a magic user."

"That's... good to know," Clint mumbled, sitting down in a chair by the window, on the opposite side of the room from the bookcases and also far from any door. Loki smiled at the archer, relaxing back into his bed and drifting off into his magic again. They weren't like that long before the door to Loki's sitting room crashed open. Clint jumped to his feet at the sound as Loki simply opened his eyes.

"Calm. Tis only Thor and his friends," Loki informed, getting to his feet as someone started banging their fist on Loki's bedroom door. "Yes?"

"Loki! My friends and I wish you to join us on the training fields!" Thor's voice loudly declared through the still closed door. Clint raised an eyebrow, wondering if Loki was going to open the door. Loki crossed his arms over his chest as he groaned. "We are going to attempt injury on our brother!"

"Baldr?" Clint whispered. Loki nodded. Baldr was his only other brother... That he was aware of. He hadn't really had time to search through his Jotun family tree. Nor was he truly inclined to do it now.

"Oh? What makes you think I enjoy this fun?" Loki replied back just like he had done so long ago. Thor scoffed loudly enough to be heard through the door. Clint shook his head, already seeing where this was going. Slowly, he relaxed and shifted to stand by Loki's bed. Loki moved to stand a little in front of him, even though the bed separated the two.

"All on Asgard enjoys it," Thor claimed. And yes it was true. All on Asgard, and even those from other realms, enjoyed coming and trying to hurt Baldr. Even Odin and Frigga had taken a crack at it, much to the enjoyment of many.

"Not all on Asgard," Loki hissed, soft enough to possibly not have been heard. Clint snorted, really seeing their brotherly relationship in a new light now.

"No wonder you two don't get along," the archer harshly chuckled. Loki couldn't stop himself from smirking as well. He could only begin to wonder how Thor portrayed him in the stories the thunderer shared with the other Avengers.

"Brother, come," Thor called, sounding more like he was demanding than requesting. Loki bristled but before he could respond, another voice called out.

"Thor, lets leave the brat to his own devices," the voice said. Clint frowned. Somehow the voice sounded familiar. Loki glanced at Clint.

"Fandral. Tall, blonde, seemingly gay," Loki whispered, not even thinking about the fact that Clint hadn't actually met these people. Clint snorted, nodding as he remembered the four warriors who had come to help Thor with the Destroyer. He could picture them all well.

"Yeah."

"Loki, come! Try your magic on him," Thor pestered. Loki turned back to the door.

"Thor, we must get going. The sooner we fight, the sooner I feast!" boomed a second voice. Clint now glanced at Loki.

"The fat one?" Clint guessed. Loki chuckled, unable to help himself. It made him wonder if Clint had possibly met the Warriors Three and Lady Sif.

"Volstagg. Yes, he is hefty in the gut. His appetite rivals all your friends combined," Loki explained. Clint chuckled now. Loki figured it was best to keep going with introductions. "Hogun is the one who looks a bit like a Midgardian Asian. He doesn't talk much."

"And Lady Sif, the female warrior?" Clint added, remembering the name from helping Coulson do the paperwork for New Mexico. Loki nodded before it occurred to him that Clint should never have seen these warriors. When could it have been possible? Clint noticed his confusion and let out a soft quick laugh. "I was in New Mexico."

"Were you? I hadn't realized," Loki pondered, surprised as he searched his memory for any signs of the archer. Clint shrugged.

"Was ordered to stay out of sight."

"Loki, come! You must have some tricks up your sleeve," Thor tried once again. Loki stiffened, suddenly realizing why this conversation was so memorable.

"Dear Norns... Today is that day?" Loki mumbled. Clint quickly looked around the room, figuering he knew what Loki was talking about. Indeed, after a moment, he spotted a small twig of mistletoe on Loki's desk. Loki stepped away from the door. "No, Thor. Leave me in peace."

"Don't be like that. Mother claims you are getting jealous," Thor mentioned. Loki bristled again as Clint nodded his head toward the twig. Unable to help himself, Loki glanced over at it. He frowned, surprised to see it sitting there but couldn't comment on it. The mistletoe had been something he needed for a different spell he was casting but after this day, Loki would use it for more nefarious reasons. He had forgotten that he hadn't needed to search to find his 'weapon.'

"Thor, we wouldn't want Baldr to wait," came a lone female voice, Sif. She didn't sound upset or even concerned. In fact, she sounded angry, like waiting for the other Prince of Asgard was a chore and not an honor. Clint's attention snapped back to the door as he found himself glaring.

"Thor, leave me. I have a guest," Loki finally admitted. Apparently it was the wrong thing to say. There was a moment of frantic movement on the other side of the door before suddenly it burst open. Clint grimaced as the very expensive door splintered and cracked into various pieces under the assault. Loki frowned, glancing around at the damage done. "Must you do that every time?"

"Where is your guest?" Thor demanded, looking about the room. Clint and Loki stayed silent, just glaring at the intruders. Thor's eyes traced over Clint but never settled on the archer. Sif focused on Clint right away, her eyes narrowing at him as if he was an offense to nature. Hogun also zeroed in on Clint, but his expression was one of surprise and curiosity. Volstagg didn't seem interested in the conversation as he barreled into the room and headed for a bowl of fruit that Clint hadn't noticed on the bedside table near Loki. Fandral, like Thor, looked everywhere but at Clint.

"Thor," Loki warned, really not liking where this was going. His voice had gone dark and dangerous. A tone that Clint had heard Loki use before and Thor usually backed off slightly on. This time, Thor didn't even seem fazed. But it was just after this that Thor finally stopped and looked at Clint. Loki quickly used his magic to transport himself to Clint's side, ready to defend the archer if need be. Clint tensed slightly at the magic but otherwise didn't move.

"A Midgardian?" Thor asked, his voice highly dismissive of the word. He shifted to give Loki a disgusted look. Clint tried not to clench his fists as the urge to punch Thor overtook him. Thor had mentioned that he had little respect for Midgardians before meeting Jane, but this was insulting. Loki sighed, already seeing where this was about to go. "You knew this Midgardian?"

"Know, Thor. And yes, I do know him. His name-" Loki corrected before stopping at Thor's disbelieving laugh. Clint bristled.

"Really? A Midgardian?" the thunderer called, almost completely hung up on that fact alone. Clint glanced toward Loki with a slightly enraged look. Loki simply sighed again, fighting the urge to face palm. Of course this was to be how Clint was fully introduced to the 'respect' most Asgardians showed to Midgardians.

"Yes, Thor. He is a Midgardian. Yes, I do know him. Are you done?" Loki scowled, certain they'd be at this for a while. Thor frowned in reply.

"I did not realize you were interested in them," Thor more or less mocked. Clint stiffed, hearing the thunderer's 'hidden' meaning. Loki waved a hand at Clint, stopping him from speaking. Clint's mind flashed to sitting with Frigga. She had warned him that many would not listen to a Midgardian and to watch what he did or said. Any simple thing could be deemed a slight and Clint would not win in a battle against even the weakest Asgardian. Knowing better than to test this idea on his, I guess, future team mate, Clint obeyed and tried to back down.

"Some... I mean, _most_ of them are brighter than you," Loki quickly retorted, stressing the word 'most'. Clint tried to stop himself from laughing at Thor's stunned face but, he couldn't stop the small smile from appearing. Loki, sensing Clint's amusement, also gave the thunderer a pleased smile.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Sif screamed, outraged on Thor's behalf. She moved forward as if to attack and while Thor raised an arm to stop her from moving too close, Loki found himself shifting to block Clint. Clint, his natural instinct to defend himself, fell back into a defensive position that looked more relaxed than anything. His muscle looked flax and weak but were really ready to strike at a moments notice. It was a defensive posture he used many times to make his enemy feel more confident in their own skills. Hogun's head tilted at the action, clearly seeing it as what it was.

"This is my room! You all barged in here when I announced that I had a guest! I am free to do what I like!" Loki roared back at her. Sif pressed against Thor's arm as if she needed to smack Loki down into his proper place, almost as if she forgot that Loki's Princely position actually made him greater than her. Volstagg stopped eating to turn and watch the proceedings now. Fandral readied himself to launch into attack mode.

"My brother is right," Thor said, holding Sif back. He nodded to Loki as though he respected the trickster's words. But his next words did not hold the same level of respect on his face as it should have. "Loki, I apologize for our crass behavior. We did not mean to upset you or..."

"My guest," Loki hissed, knowing that Thor was inwardly laughing about this whole thing. In fact, most of the Warrior's Three and even Sif, seemed to have a smirk on their face. It was almost as if Thor was winning again and Loki was certain they would be making fun of him for far too long after this. Clint snarled, ready to defend not only himself but Loki. Fearing that Clint was about to make a mistake and potentially get himself killed, Loki quickly cast a silencing spell on the archer. Clint tensed at the action but thankfully didn't fight it at all. Loki cast a hard glare at Thor and his friends. "I understand that you can't give me the respect I deserve but I expect my guests to be treated as you would treat your own."

"No matter how pretty he is, I doubt I would ever have a Midgardian as a guest," Fandral chuckled. Sif and Volstagg snorted as well and Thor couldn't hide his smirk. Hogun gave off a pleased aura, though he hadn't shifted much the entire time. Loki's eyes darkened.

"Leave my room at once," he ordered. Sif, Fandral and Volstagg laughed at him. Hogun glanced quickly at Thor. Thor, thankfully seemed to understand that they had taken their 'fun' a step too far, simply nodded.

"When you are done with your pet, come join us. Mother and Father would like to see you do some magic," Thor informed, his voice now more formal than Clint was used to hearing it sound. Loki said nothing. He knew for a fact that Odin and Frigga were not actually interested in his magic. In fact, when he had actually gone in his real memories, Odin had left as soon as he stepped forward and Frigga spent her time talking to some of those in attendance. Figuring it was all he could say, Thor nodded his head once again and turned to leave. When none of his friends went to do the same, Thor loudly cleared his throat. Understanding dawned on their faces and after another moment more of hesitation, they easily followed after Thor.

Loki followed them out till he got to the door Thor had broken. There he watched them walk down the hall. Once they rounded the corner, he closed his door as best it could, considering the damage done to it. While it didn't look great, Loki knew his magic would still keep out unwanted visitors and stop any from overhearing what was said inside. Later, someone would come and replace the door without Loki's prompting. Turning back into his room, Loki was half surprised to see Clint at his bedroom archway, leaning against the wall in a seemingly relaxed posture. For half a minute they just stared at each other, then Clint gave Loki an expectant look which Loki returned after a second with a sheepish one. Less than a second later, Loki waved his hand and the silencing spell was removed. After that, Loki saw that Clint hadn't been relaxed against the door. He had been preparing to attack Loki if he needed too.

"Thanks," Clint muttered, finally actually relaxing into his position against the frame. Loki nodded. Seconds later Clint looked away from him. "Was he..."

"Always," Loki admitted, now taking this as his chance to look away from Clint. He heard the archer sigh before shifting to sit on the chair closest to the bedroom door. Loki didn't bother moving. "But how he treated me gave me no right to attack Midgard like I did."

"Given how most Asgardians feel or felt about us, I'm kinda not surprised anymore. To all of you, we really are just cheap toys for you to play with," Clint described. Loki couldn't help but flinch. Had he regressed mentally to how he acted during this memory, he wouldn't have been much better off than Thor. He sighed deeply.

"Thor coming to Midgard and joining the Avengers, defeating my attack... It all helped persuade many Asgardians to believe you all are something more. But yes, the belief that Midgardians are less than Asgardians still exists in those that survived Hela's attack," Loki pointed out, feeling it best to be truly honest with Clint. Clint nodded, having assumed as much. Suddenly he chuckled and Loki raised an eyebrow at him.

"Racism does truly exist everywhere," the archer joked. Loki smirked, unable to help himself. Sitting here now with Clint, Loki found he could actually enjoy the presence of a Midgardian. He never really had time to actually 'hang out' with one. The moments with Tony were fleeting in his mind as he hadn't been in his right mind during those moments, but he could see himself being friendly with the genius as well. His time spent with Wanda was different than being with Clint as Loki had spent much of it training her. Clint looked up at Loki, jerking the trickster out of his thoughts. The archer opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Loki shook his head.

"No. This is not when Baldr dies. It's within this day that I do begin my plot," Loki explained. Clint again glanced at the twig of mistletoe. Loki sighed. "A mere coincidence. It's not until today, when I go to fight Baldr that things turn worse. Mother and Father ignore me as I attack my brother with interesting and new displays of magic. And yet, they had praised Thor for his repeated attempts. Then, Baldr... He openly mocked me. Made fun of my 'limited' magic. While he did later apologize to me in private, I no longer cared. In my mind... He had sealed his fate."

"Bet you wish this was the Time Stone instead of the Soul Stone," Clint muttered, having never really thought that there could be a worse sibling relationship than the one he had with his own brother. Loki snorted but nodded his head. He did regret his actions in the murder of Baldr. But maybe now... He didn't have to kill his brother.

* * *

"What's the pass code?" Fury demanded without even a hello, staying a good fifteen feet or more away from Tony and Natasha as if they were poisonous. Tony jerked around, having had his back to the spy in the expectation that the alley they were waiting in front of only had one entrance, the one he was standing in. Natasha simply glanced over her shoulder, a small smile on her face as she enjoyed Tony's surprise at suddenly having someone behind him. She had noticed beforehand the escape access from the building to their left. Likely, Fury had headed into the building, went up either to the roof or only a few flights and then came down the fire escape to be behind them.

"Pass code? What the hell? No one gave me a fucking pass code!" Tony outraged, figuring it was better to focus on that then the near heart attack he had gotten from the damned spy. He turned to Natasha as if she was to blame for the lack of giving him some sort of pass code. Natasha's smile grew for half a second as Fury snorted and stepped closer.

"Well, it's you alright," the spy admitted. Tony spun back to face him, unsure what just happened.

"What?"

"It was a test. Depending on your reaction, he'd know if it was you or not," Natasha coolly replied as if this was common knowledge. Tony jerked back, shocked.

"And you two don't get tests, why?" he snipped, too stunned to really react any other way than angered. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Who says we didn't?" Fury mocked, suddenly right beside the genius. Tony stepped back again, nearly attacking the spy to which Fury just raised an eyebrow. It was pretty much him daring Tony to try and attack him. Tony stood down, pissed off.

"Fury and I traded hand signals as you and I headed over here," Natasha retorted. Fury turned to look at her with a blank expression. Natasha shrugged. "The Joint Security Council have been watching us for a while. We'd need new signals anyways."

"Wait... What? Where? When? Who?" Tony cried, too confused to properly order his thoughts. Natasha glanced at the genius with a sigh.

"If you actually read the fine print of giving up your control on being a hero, you'd realize that the JSC haven't stopped watching you. FRIDAY was even legally forced to give them limited access to her systems so they could monitor you. Even though you are signed over, they still watch you," Natasha told the genius. Tony stiffened, mentally resolving to go through the JSC paperwork more closely and possibly revising it for future heroes. Hell, he might need to dissolve it all after this anyway. Not that they could do much anymore. Technically the JSC was on stand-by as the Asgardians settled onto Earth.

"Forget all that, we have business and I'd rather not hold onto this thing longer than necessary," Fury ordered, pulling a lead lined box from his coat. Tony raised an eyebrow. The coat had hidden the box rather well. He half wondered if there was some unknown science to it that like shrunk the item in the pocket and returned it to normal size when removed. "Why do you need this?"

"Thor's evil sister has a stone. We are testing to see if this is from a second set of stones and if it could lead us to the twin of the one in her possession," Natasha quickly replied before Tony could make any sort of remark. Tony frowned at them.

"I thought you'd already know all that. Super spy and shit," he called. Fury shrugged.

"Clint's death isn't the biggest thing I'm currently dealing with," Fury admitted without an ounce of sympathy. Tony's frown deepened and his eyes narrowed in anger. Natasha's eyebrows raised in a small look of surprise.

"Still haven't found them?" she asked. Fury shrugged, really not surprised that Natasha knew. Between him and her, many secrets were not as secret as people thought.

"We have some theories," he evaded. Natasha scoffed. That meant someone had an idea and Fury didn't like it. Nor did he see it as the be all end all.

"Let us know if a stone in involved. Out of the two sets, we're missing five," Natasha informed. Fury nodded.

"Mostly obelisks, no stones this small," Fury retorted, holding up the lead box again. Tony sighed dramatically, drawing the spies attention to him.

"Why do I feel totally left out?" he grumbled. Natasha and Fury rolled their eyes with a heavy groan for the latter.

"Cause you are," Natasha mentioned as if it should be obvious. Tony frowned, wanting so badly to ask questions but figured if the JSC was watching them, thanks to him (and slightly Natasha who originally had lost her followers), best to just let Fury keep his little secrets. Fury nodded his appreciation at Tony's sudden sense of tack.

"Call me if you need help," Fury requested, finally actually handing the box over to Tony. Tony nodded, glancing quickly at the box but not accepting it.

"Could use an idea on how to stop one of these stupid things," Tony muttered as Natasha sighed and took the box from Fury. As Tony's once personal adviser, she remembered the idiosyncrasy of Tony not accepting things handed to him unless it came from Pepper, Happy, Rhodey and at the time, herself. Fury smirked at her before nodding toward the box.

"Lead seems to diminish their power signal," he mentioned. Tony raised an eyebrow now.

"Isn't lead how we stopped Loki's magic as well?"

"Lead and adamantium mixed together," Fury countered. Tony made a puzzled face before suddenly brightening. He turned to Natasha, who had expertly hidden the box somewhere on her person.

"Bring that to Strange," Tony demanded. Natasha gave him a confused look, silently demanding to know what he was going to do. "I have to go to New Asgard."

"Why?" Natasha called, unsure what he was planning.

"I've got an idea," he said before walking toward where Fury came from. Natasha raised an eyebrow, waiting to see where this would lead. Fury turned to watch him, a smile slowly forming on his face. "I'll keep in touch!"

With that, Tony spun around and headed deeper into the alley. Fury and Natasha silently waited. The fire escape that Fury had used already had it's ladder lifted back up and both were certain that Tony wasn't going to look up and notice it. In fact, a few seconds later, Tony meekly walked back toward them. He nodded at them as he passed them again and turned right once past the alley entrance. Fury snorted as Natasha shook her head.

Sighing, Natasha glanced at Fury. The one eyed spy shrugged his shoulders in a lost expression before nodded his head and turned to leave himself the way he had come. Natasha smirked at him and started walking toward the entrance of the alley. She looked right to see for any signs of Tony, but the genius was already gone. Sighing deeply, she turned left and headed off, mindful of the added JSC members following her now.

* * *

 **I am late... Yup... Sorry. Least it's only by a day or so. And you'll be happy about it to some degree. I ALREADY FINISHED THE SEQUEL TO THIS STORY! Yup, you read that right! I am so far ahead that it's funny! And I can't wait until you all get to start reading it. But you still have nine more chapters here. The sequel isn't as long as this one, sadly. I'm gonna edit it a bit and see if I can get it longer but I doubt it.**

 **Darius is doing well. Being loud... Annoying... And overall his normal self. We're having difficulty getting him to be silent so Baby Jason can sleep, which is aggravating. We try, and it kinda works... For like two minutes or so... But we're working on it. Spent a bunch of time writing all week so we didn't tend to do that much. Things have been going pretty good other wise.**

 **Thank you to all those who reviewed, favorite and followed. I hope you all enjoy and can't wait till I post again to see who liked it!**


	16. Plans in Motion

CHAPTER 16 - Plans in Motion

About maybe twenty minutes or more after Thor and his entourage left, a new person knocked on Loki's since fixed and closed door. Clint, who had practically drifted off to sleep on one of Loki's overstuffed couches, jerked awake at the noise. Loki had expected this visitor and so was unsurprised at the knock. Though he had expected them to visit sooner than this. Slowly he got to his feet and headed to the door. Unlike with Thor, he actually opened the door and bowed low to whoever of the other side. The instant Clint saw who it was, he was on his feet and bowing low as well.

"Loki," Frigga greeted to her son as Loki went back to a standing position. Clint stayed down, waiting to be addressed. Loki smiled as she suddenly pulled him into a gentle hug. "Thor tells me you are refusing to try your hand at testing Baldr's abilities."

"Why bother? Other magic users have tried," Loki scoffed, waving a hand to allow her into his sitting room. Frigga smiled and entered the room, glancing at Clint with a pleased air that he was still bowing to her. It was unlike when he had first met her. The Asgardian who had brought him to her had to actually tell him to bow to her and even then it had been quick and undignified. She nodded a hello to the archer and slowly Clint stood up but moved away from the couch.

"None of them are as powerful as you," Frigga replied, turning her back to Clint and ignoring the archer once again. Loki shook his head, closing his door and heading to stand near Clint, almost forcing her to see Clint. Frigga's expression tightened but she didn't comment. Clint's lips set into a fine line. This was a much different reaction than he had gotten earlier. Was something different? Did he do something wrong?

"Father tried. I am not as strong as him," Loki stated. Frigga sighed. Clint could tell that she had had this discussion with him before. He couldn't help but frown. Seeing more of Loki's interaction with his family made him feel bad for everything that had ever happened before.

"Is something bothering you? You aren't like yourself," Frigga asked, almost sounding concerned but her voice didn't have the correct inflections. It was more like she was accusing him of acting odd. Clint's frown deepened. Loki shifted closer to Clint, ready to stop the archer from doing anything stupid. He had a thousand and a half or so years of experience in dealing with how his family treated him. While he did have some issues in recent years, those were basically quick tantrums. He could handle this.

"I am fine mother. Never better," he told her. Frigga frowned now, glancing over toward Clint. Her expression shifted to something that Clint couldn't translate, not that he really wanted too at this point. Loki noticed it as well and hid his grimace. "No. He is not the reason I am refusing to attend."

"I understand," Frigga muttered, her voice stiff. Loki frowned. Frigga had always been one who advocated for Midgardians. Yet here she was, acting like most Asgardians did when faced with Midgardians.

"Mother, I honestly just don't see the need to attack him when I know that my magic won't work," Loki stated, trying to get her to understand. Frigga sighed, almost unable to understand or not willing to try. "What is the point of fighting a battle that one is doomed to fail?"

"Defending your home or someone you love," Clint mumbled under his breath lightly enough that Frigga could not hear him but Loki did. Loki was just about able to keep from reacting. Thankfully, Frigga was too distracted to even notice what happened, or if she did notice, she didn't acknowledge it. Clint honestly couldn't tell which was worse.

"Maybe you could use this as a way to enrich your own magic. Train with your brothers," Frigga requested. Loki scoffed.

"Train with my brothers. More like stand there as they beat me to Asgard's cheers," he snorted. Frigga frowned at him.

"Use your magic. Show Asgard what you can do," she pressed. Loki glanced at Clint.

"I have a guest," he relented, waving his hand to the archer. Frigga sent a dismissive glance to Clint.

"Your guest can wait."

"My guest has a limited life span. Every second counts," Loki countered, his eyes narrowed. Was this Hela's doing? There was no way his mother would ever act like this. Especially after peacefully greeting Clint and watching over him earlier. Frigga scoffed.

"Bring him to watch. Let him see that he is beneath you and not worth your time. That he is an insect," Frigga snapped, showing her 'true' feelings about Midgardians. Loki froze in shock at her words. He had never heard her speak like that about any one or any species before. Clint moved forward, grabbing Loki's arm and hanging off of him as though he was a little sex toy. Too much in shock from Frigga, Loki hardly reacted. Frigga, on the other hand, looked like she was about to attack him.

"Ma'am. I understand that I am not worthy of Loki's attention. And that is what makes it mean even more to me," Clint lied, as if he actually was Loki's pet. His words knocked Loki out of his surprise and he glanced over at the archer with a confused look. Loki was even more stunned to see Clint's expression. The archer looked like he was honestly telling the truth. It was here that Loki remembered, Clint had been trained as a spy as well. While he never tended to be obvious about his skills, the archer was talented.

"I see," Frigga coolly replied.

"I heard of a great archer here on Asgard. On Ear... Midgard, I am considered the best. If I can beat your archer in a shoot out, I request that you all leave Loki alone and you respect that he prefers fighting with magic over brute strength," Clint declared, remembering how Thor once described the official way to declare competition on Asgard. Frigga raised her eyebrows in shock at his words. Loki nearly choked on some saliva as he prayed that Frigga would not deem this an insult.

"You would dare?"

"My understanding is that all you people care about is your ability to fight. I'm decent at hand to hand and pretty good at sword fighting but my strength does not compare. So I'll rely on the only other thing I have... My archery skills," Clint informed. Frigga looked taken aback by that. She even took a step back in shock.

"Are you...? Is this a joke?" Frigga demanded, pointedly turning to ask Loki rather than Clint. Clint frowned at her even as Loki turned back to her. Loki paused, mentally taking a step back from the moment. Clint needed this. He needed to prove that he was worthy of being here on Asgard otherwise their time here was going to get more and more difficult. Asgard also needed Clint. Even if this was fake, Asgard needed to see what Midgard could do. Suddenly, Loki pulled Clint tighter to his body. Clint slid into it, naturally playing along better than Loki hoped. They both fought smiles at Frigga's look.

"My Hawk never jokes about things like this," Loki answered as seriously as possible. With Clint so close to him, Loki felt when the archer's body shuddered. He had forgotten that he would call Clint his hawk throughout the invasion. Frigga grimaced at them, staring each of them down as if she could prove one of them was lying. Loki gave her an open look, pretty much daring her to contradict him.

"I shall speak to the All-Father about this. He'll determine if it is worth the effort," Frigga regally declared. Loki nodded.

"Thank you, Mother," he answered. Frigga nodded with a good-bye and swiftly left. Almost as soon as she was out the door, Loki burst into laughter, releasing Clint from his hold. Clint back away, a pleased smile on his face. While it was not how Frigga usually acted, Loki was pleased with how Clint handled the situation. "That was fantastic! I thought she was going to burst!"

"You're welcome," Clint chuckled, quite pleased with himself. Loki snorted at the archer.

"I'm not sure which I liked more... The face she made when you clung to me or the shock of you challenging our greatest archer," Loki laughed. Clint's face darkened with the sudden prospect of battle on the horizon. Seeing the change, Loki stopped laughing.

"I'm serious about that," he stated. Loki frowned at him. "Thor told us all how this whole thing works. If we ever came to Asgard, we'd have to challenge people. The stronger the person, the more honor we'd hold over here. And if we personally called a type of fighter out, Odin had to follow that, rather than choosing whoever he wanted."

"Barton, I know you are good on Midgard, but..."

"Unless Asgard cheats, I won't loose," Clint interrupted. Loki shook his head in disbelief. It was like dealing with another Thor.

"We have more honor than that."

"Then there you go. I never miss where I aim."

"You missed a few in New York," Loki muttered. Clint snorted.

"No. Explosive arrows work better aimed around a group of enemies rather than in the chest of one. I aimed for those spots," Clint told him. Both of them forgetting about Clint's shot to Fury's chest and all the missed shots at Maria Hill. Loki shook his head, almost unable to believe that Clint was honestly that good. If he was, Loki might have to look into seeing if the archer was ever blessed.

* * *

"I wonder how much longer they'll be," Vision mentioned, glancing about the nervous faces of Wanda and Steve. About an hour prior, Natasha and Tony had left to meet with Fury. Strange had disappeared long before that in an effort to research more on the Infinity Stones. Loki's body had shifted to a safer room and Thor had left in search of it, promising not to leave it out of his sight unless they were about to attack Hela. He refused to mention Steve's order about going to New Asgard and Steve was loathed to bring it up. About half an hour ago, Steve had started pacing the room. Wanda kept flaring her power about, almost trying to sense for her friends. Vision had watched silently, until now.

"They'll take as long as they need," Steve nervously retorted, his voice far harsher than he wanted or needed it to be. Vision glanced at Wanda, trying to determine if he should be bothered by how the Captain spoke to him. Wanda frowned, looking up at Steve. She was not going to tolerate that as well as Vision.

"I get that you are worried about them, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on us," Wanda gently requested, her voice sharper than she even meant. Steve paused, surprised at her words. He took a moment to think over what he had said and how he said it. Grimacing, he looked to Vision.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's understandable. We are all worried," Wanda softly told Steve, getting up from her seat to move closer to him. Steve sighed, looking away from her. "This whole thing is taking a lot out of each of us."

Steve nodded, agreeing with Wanda and unsure what to say. There was no good way to apologize after a verbal assault like that. And worse, Steve wasn't just worried about Tony and Natasha. He feared for the rest of the team left in New Asgard and for Clint and Loki, under the power of Hela. As a leader, he feared that they may never learn how to defeat Hela and wondered what he would do. Would he make Thor give in? Would he just leave Clint and now Loki to Hela's enjoyment?

Before he could think too long on those questions, the room's silence was broken by a ringing cell phone. It was an old school sound, almost like the ringing of a rotary phone. At first, Vision, Wanda and Steve just kinda stared at each other, waiting for one of the others to do something about it first. None of them had been expecting a phone call for any reason. Heck, Steve didn't even think that Vision carried a phone. Wanda on the other hand had gotten very used to that ring tone. She waited a moment until Steve was looking at her and then she nodded to him, almost as if silently asking him if he was going to get it.

"Oh," he sheepishly cried before digging the device out of his pocket. Wanda chuckled lightly at him as Steve answered it without even glancing at who was calling. "Hello?"

"WHY DID HE COME BACK ALONE!?" an angered voice nearly shouted into Steve's ear. Steve quickly held the phone away from his ear as the noise assaulted him. Vision and Wanda both just stared at Steve, wondering what was going on as even though the phone was not on speaker, they could clearly hear the person talking. It took an extra second longer than it should have for Steve to recognize the voice.

"Bucky?" he called, surprised to hear from him.

"Yes! Now why aren't you here with Tony!?" Bucky demanded. Steve frowned at that.

"Tony is back in New Asgard?" Wanda raised an eyebrow at that. Frowning deeply herself, she glanced at Vision. The 'android' shrugged. Sighing, she headed closer to Steve.

"Yes, Steve. Tony is here. Now why aren't you?" Bucky hissed, clearly upset that he was left 'alone' with Tony. Steve sighed now, trying to come up with some sort of response to that. He knew that Bucky wasn't alone. When the group had left; Sam, Rhodey, Bucky, Hulk, and Pietro stayed behind to help the remaining Asgardians settle down. Rhodey acted as an interim voice for America, explaining the rules that they'd have to follow. With Heimdall's and Val's help, most Asgardians seemed to agree with the rules.

"Uh..." Steve smartly replied, trying to find some sort of answer. Wanda rolled her eyes before snatching the phone from Steve's slackened grip. Steve just gave her a quick relieved look even as she turned and walked away from him.

"Did Tony say why he was there?" she asked, getting straight to the point. This apparently almost through Bucky cause he now paused for a moment.

"I... Uh... Didn't ask," Bucky said, his voice much nicer and softer as he had lost most of his anger now. Wanda nodded her head.

"Can you? Or ask Sam to ask?" Wanda suggested, knowing that Bucky and Tony even saying 'hi' to each other was a volatile situation. There was another moment's pause before the phone echoed with a half understood conversation between at least two men. Considering Wanda didn't know of any women on Bucky's end that would willingly talk and help to him, she had no idea who else Bucky was speaking with. There was a bit of clatter for a second before Bucky came back on.

"Uh... We can't understand what he's saying," Bucky finally admitted. Wanda frowned.

"How can you not understand him?"

"He's like... Talking in another language or something..." Bucky stuttered, unsure how to describe the situation that he was in. Suddenly there was a loud clattering on the phone as two people started fighting over the phone. "NO! Gimme!"

"Gimme! I swear to God!" Sam's voice called in return. Wanda's mind immediately flashed to a memory she had saved from Clint's mind. It was a group of large humanoid turtles fighting over an old dial rotatory phone while talking to a woman. She snorted at the imagery before focusing on her main task. This was the first they had heard from Tony or Natasha since they left. It was important to get any bit of information right now. Anything could help save Clint and now Loki.

"BOYS!" Wanda snapped over the phone. Immediately the fighting stopped and Wanda heard both of them try to apologize but the phone was not near any of them. She rolled her eyes. Bucky and Steve really needed a crash course in learning how to use cell phones. "Good, now, put me on speaker." There was a pause. Mentally, Wanda could see Bucky blankly staring at the phone while Sam took over. Then Wanda heard more background noise, that sounded something like Tony rambling science to someone. She focused on it, trying to hear what the genius was saying. But Like Bucky had said, she couldn't understand a word of it. "I see what you mean."

"The one thing we could get out of him was that Hulk needed to bring back Bruce," Sam added into the phone. Wanda found herself rooted to the spot in shock. She had been there for some discussions on how to bring Hulk back as Bruce. Natasha had even tried her 'lullaby.' Hulk literally refused to bring Bruce back out. He said he wanted more time. Claimed that people needed him.

"Not until Tony started speaking science. We think Bruce fought his way out after that," Bucky replied.

"Are they okay?" Wanda wondered as she heard the front door to Strange's mansion open up. She looked over to see Natasha entering. Nodding a greeting to the woman, Wanda looked to Steve.

"Yeah, seems like it," Bucky confirmed as Steve turned to greet Natasha as well. Vision also nodded a hello and the three headed off a good distance away from Wanda to catch up. Wanda needed to get off the phone soon to get more information.

"Okay, just, Bucky... Avoid Tony. He'll be back here whenever he's done doing whatever," Wanda told the duo. Bucky huffed, not sure how he liked being treated by a child by a teenager. Sam chuckled. "He won't bother you."

"Yeah, ya big baby," Sam laughed. There was a sound of skin meeting skin and then an oomph. Wanda could naturally assume that Bucky must have hit Sam, and knowing that Bucky was still working on controlling his strength when emotions then it might have been painful.

"How do you know? What's to say this wasn't a way to get me alone and kill me?" Bucky countered, both to Sam and to Wanda. Wanda snorted, unable to help herself even in Bucky's fear. Bucky huffed at her and at Sam's loud laughter.

"You are a trained soldier who held up against him in the suit once before. You'll be fine," she answered, her voice sterner than she'd like it to have been. Looking up she noticed Steve's face looked more concerned and Natasha was frowning. Vision was shaking his head. Something in her voice though must have worried the others on the phone.

"You okay? Everything alright over there?" Sam wondered. Wanda hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let them know about Loki. But without Thor around to ask, and Steve busy with Natasha... She sighed.

"Hela used the Soul Stone on Loki," she admitted.

"When? I thought he came back with you!" Sam cried, having not actually been around during that meeting. Otherwise, he doubted he would have stayed in New Asgard.

"He was. His... Body is here at Dr. Strange's mansion," Wanda told them. Quickly she filled them in on everything that had happened since the group split up.

"Jesus... And I thought the Asgardians' politics was going to be Earth shattering news," Sam half joked, needing to lighten the mood. Wanda snorted, wishing that that was true.

"Sorry that we were the more interesting group."

"Ah, it's fine," Sam answered, also mostly glad that he wasn't really involved. Pissing off an Asgardian that Thor, Loki and Val couldn't beat that also had the power to steal his soul, that didn't sound like the kind of interesting he wanted. Wanda looked up at the rest of her group with a small smile that quickly turned into a frown. Steve, Natasha and Vision had come closer and were watching her.

"Okay, I have to go. I'll make sure Steve or someone texts an update later on," she informed.

"Texts?" Bucky called, acting more innocent than he really was. Wanda chuckled lightly as Sam simply replied 'okay.'

"Bye."

"Bye," the guys replied before all of them hung up. Once done, Wanda handed the phone back over to Steve who quickly placed it in his pocket.

"So?"

"I did not feel this stone like I felt the others. To me, this could be a shinny rock," Vision said before anyone else could tell her. Wanda nodded, having assumed almost as much by their faces. But they almost looked more down than she thought they should be.

"That's good, right?" she asked, looking over at Steve and Natasha.

"Yes and no," Steve answered.

"Means that each stone can't sense its twin so if we find the other Soul Stone, we can bring it before Hela without her noticing. But, we still don't know if Strange's stone can sense this one to see if the stones can not sense the secondary set. God forbid Hela had more than just the Soul Stone hidden on her. Between the sets, we are missing five other stones," Natasha added. Wanda nodded, seeing why that was a big deal. Natasha glanced around, having seen Strange disappear before she left. "Any idea where Strange is?"

"No. Since he took off, we haven't seen him," Wanda muttered, glancing at Steve as if he should have told her. Natasha sighed.

"He said he was going to look up some things. Thor and... Loki's body... They got moved somewhere else as well," Steve explained, having been too focused on Natasha's news to let her know much of what was happening here.

"Well, we need Strange," Natasha mumbled in an angered tone. She hated not knowing things. And she hated it even more when people decided they could do whatever they liked without informing the rest of the team of their plans.

"Good thing I am here," Strange suddenly called. Vision, who had felt the other stone getting closer, nodded a hello to the man who suddenly appeared at the bottom of the staircase. Natasha and Wanda jerked backwards in surprise as if they had secretly been making fun of Strange and didn't want him to know. Steve gave him a partially guilty look, unable to lie all that well. Strange gave them a once over look before deciding he didn't care and focused on Natasha. "Did you get the second Mind Stone?"

"Yeah," Natasha replied, hold up the lead box. Strange raised an eyebrow at it. "We didn't want just anyone to know what we had. The lead holds in the excess power."

"Interesting. But I can't tell if the stone is here without the box being opened," Strange retorted, his voice a bit sharper than it really needed to be. Natasha's face shuttered in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. But Steve could just about see the flush of pink before she got it fully under control. Ignoring everyone watching her, Natasha opened the box and held it closer to Strange. Strange closed his eyes, focusing on what he sensed from the Time Stone around his neck. After maybe half a minute, a small smile appeared on his face. "Good news. One set cannot sense the other set. And given Vision and I could not sense the power used to draw Loki's soul from here, I'd say that the stone Hela has is from a secondary set."

"Okay. That's good. Any information on the Soul Stone from this set then?" Steve wondered, feeling better about this plan. No one commented on the fact that they didn't know if their set was the more powerful set.

"All I can get is that it is well protected. It would be near impossible for someone to get," Strange explained, quite pleased with this information. Considering that the Time Stone in his possession was also 'near impossible' for someone to get, it was good news. Or so he thought.

"Near impossible is not as trustworthy as one might assume," Vision pointed out.

"Doubt anyone would willing kill a loved one," Strange muttered just barely loud enough for the others to hear. Wanda gripped onto Vision as if Strange was currently asking her to do it. Steve glanced away, unsure if he'd ever be able to do that even to save another. Natasha simply shrugged, an unimpressed look on her face.

"Depends on what happens if we didn't."

* * *

 **I'm gonna get this, I swear... Argh. Anyways... I've started a story over on Archive of Our Own. I'm under the same name. BartonLover. The story is called** _ **Wolf in the House**_ **. I will likely post it here soon, but I just wanted to see how Archive worked.**

 **Darius has... Just has. He tends to fight us a bunch on whatever we tell him to do. And he just acts like he's king of the house (yes, we sometimes allow this by accident but still). He's gonna be starting school at the ELC soon and hopefully things will settle down. Jason has been giving his parents trouble. Pretty much not liking sleeping at night. But then again, he's a baby. We're trying to help give suggestions but Jason doesn't seem to care. Currently we are watching Jason by our selves as his parents are at an event... An event they didn't even really want to go to.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews, favorites and follows.**


	17. What Happens Now?

CHAPTER 17 - What Happens Now?

"Well, it's certainly lasting longer this time," Hela stated with a pleased smirk on her face. Baldr glanced over at her with a dark expression. He really should watch his damn mouth.

"My brothers will destroy you," he promised. Hela chuckled, turning her back on him as if to say that she wasn't worried about him attacking her. Baldr's hands clenched. He wished so dearly that the oaths his mother had made in life had carried over in death. But sadly, while messing around in Valhalla, he learned he was as vulnerable as anyone to every type of weapon again.

"They've tried and failed. It won't happen," she claimed. Baldr snarled at her, taking a few steps closer to her as if he was going to attack her. She looked slowly over her shoulder at him, no concern on her face at all. "Go ahead, I'll send you into that memory too."

"But then you'd have no one to gloat too," Baldr reminded, a thought coming to him. He made sure to keep his voice as light and airy as possible. He had to play this right. Hela rolled her eyes, turning now to look at Baldr with contempt. Baldr smiled.

"I am not gloating." He gave her a blank stare, daring her to contradict him again. She frowned, now getting more serious in this discussion. "I'm not gloating. I'm stating fact. Thor cannot win this. I will get Asgard back."

"Gloating!" Baldr taunted, his voice almost sing song like. Hela snarled. For half a moment Baldr wondered if he over stepped his bounds.

"Do you want to join them? Die over and over again without a way to prevent it?" Hela snapped, not too annoyed to even want to play. Baldr chuckled. Actually, yes he did want to go into the memory with Loki and Clint. Inside the memory he could potentially help Loki break out. Right now, he was useless.

"And miss this gloating?"

"Damn you!" Hela shouted, her magic flaring around her in her rage. Baldr outright laughed even though on the inside he feared she just might flat out attack him. Outside of Valhalla, if a soul died, there was no guarantee of it ever returning. "SHUT UP!"

Baldr continued laughing, almost visibly wincing. Missing that minor detail, Hela hissed at him before summoning the Soul Stone to her hand. She kept putting away inside a pocket of her magic and bringing it out only when needed, almost as if she didn't like touching it. Having watched her do this numerous times, Baldr was beginning to see where the pocket of her magic actually led to. A few more times of seeing it and he might even be able to summon his own limited magic and get the stone from her pocket. But first he had to help Loki and Clint. With the stone in hand, Hela threw her hand out at Baldr and pushed her magic into it, demanding it send his soul into Loki's memories. Baldr got off one more laugh before his vision blacked out.

* * *

"At least defend yourself, brother!" Was all Baldr heard before something hard slammed into his face. The force of the blow sent his head snapping to the side and he took a few steps to right his balance. A flash of pain echoed across his face in the shape of the item that had hit him. As much as anyone assumed that the oaths Frigga had made would cause him no pain, Baldr actually could feel a good amount of what was being done to him. He felt every hit, stab, cut, everything. Yes, the pain only lasted for a few seconds to a minute at most, but it was still there. Shaking it off, Baldr looked up to see Thor joyously laughing at him, a now broken hammer in his hands. The memories from this moment came back to him faster than he wished they did and he winced again.

"You'd best do better than that, brother," Baldr chuckled back, falling into his role. He wouldn't change the outcome of what happens here with this fight with Thor. No, he needed it to happen how it actually did. He needed Loki to come out and attack him. Once Loki came out though, Baldr was certain he could drop hints to the Lie-smith about what happened with him as well. Thor's laughter turned into a pleased roar.

"HA! Watch me!" the thunderer told him before tossing the broken hammer aside. Baldr 'stupidly' watched it fly away even as Thor leaned over to start charging him like a raging bull. Before the oaths were taken, Baldr typically would have just stepped aside and let Thor charge into whatever was behind him. But now, he took the charge full on, catching Thor's shoulders even as the thunderer's head nailed him in the gut and made the breath leave his lungs in a whoosh. Ignoring it, Baldr dug his feet into the ground, trying to slow Thor's assault before they crashed into the arena wall. A few steps away from it, Baldr finally was able to stop Thor. Knowing how close he was and that he wanted to get Thor away from the others, Baldr shifted his arms to around Thor's waist and lifted his brother up and over his head. Moving away from the wall, Baldr began spinning. After nearly ten rotations, Baldr released Thor and the thunderer went flying across to the other side of the arena.

The crowd cheered at the sight of the Crown Prince being tossed like a rag doll by his beloved brother. Baldr stood there, soaking in the cheers as he had once done before. But this time it felt different. They were just as loud as he remembered but he felt different about receiving the cheers. It almost, disappointed him now. He fought the frown from appearing on his face before focusing on where Thor had landed. The thunderer was getting to his feet and it looked painful. Baldr couldn't help but wince. He hadn't meant to hurt his brother.

"Ready to yield?" Baldr called out to him, knowing that this fight had been going on a decent length of time. He could feel his muscle burning from the exertion and saw all the broken weapons that Thor had tried. There wasn't much left that could be considered usable. _'The Dwarves of Niffleheim must have loved when I was like this,_ ' Baldr couldn't help but think. Thor let out a quick chuckle, still trying to catch his breath.

"Nope," Thor declared. The thunderer could never learn when he was defeated in battle. Nine times out of ten, Odin would have to force Thor to back off from a fight. Especially when the opponent was someone like Baldr, who had impressive immunity. Thor began moving forward, rapidly picking up speed like he was going to charge at him again. As he sped, he leaned over. Halfway across, he picked up a discarded axe, the handle too short to be of much long distance use. Baldr let out a forced laugh, like he had done before but he couldn't stop the roll of his eyes at his brother's lunacy. Thor was a few steps away when it happened.

"ENOUGH!" Odin declared, far too early into the fight then it should have been. Baldr winced as Thor attempted to stop. He side stepped his brother and Thor tripped over a discarded shield, falling to his face in the dirt. Baldr raised an eyebrow at him before Thor jumped to his feet as if it never happened. He quickly brushed himself off before facing their father.

"Father?" Baldr called before Thor could. He was curious as to what was going on. Hela hadn't let him watch Clint's action in the memory as she had done before, so he didn't know what the archer had done. Nor had he been able to see Loki, though Hela had explained what she had done to him.

"We have seen enough of this fight. A new challenge has been brought before us," Odin announced, ignoring the reactions of the crowd which had booed to his first statement but now cheered the second one. Baldr frowned, still not understanding what was happening. This was nothing like how the original memory had played out.

"Then I shall take them on as well!" Thor boasted, not knowing what was going to happen next. This brought even louder cheers from the crowd. Baldr's frown deepened. He knew that he should announce that he was ready as well, but something about this was all wrong.

"You are not the challenged," Odin replied, barely glancing down at the thunderer. Thor frowned, not used to not being the center of attention. He glanced at Baldr as if he would know what was happening. Baldr looked back at his brother and shrugged. This was all new to him as well. "Gylfi Storolfsson, Asgard's greatest archer, has been challenged to an archery competition!"

"What?" Baldr couldn't help but mutter under his breath. He quickly looked around the arena even as the crowd roared in pleasure. It had been a long time since they last saw an archery contest. It took a moment but as Gylfi stepped out the doorway on the right side of the arena, Baldr spotted two other figures at the entrance on the left. Loki was chatting with Clint, an amused expression on his face.

"This shall be enjoyable! I do admire Gylfi's aim," Thor claimed before clapping Baldr on the shoulder. Baldr stumbled a step or two before catching himself and numbly followed Thor toward the same entrance that Loki and Clint stood at. Gylfi soaked up the cheers on the other side of the arena, making it hard for Odin to continue his announcement. But Odin also didn't appear to be in a rush to say anything. Thor and Baldr almost made it to the arena doorway when Odin finally settled the crowd.

"His challenger is one we rarely ever see here on Asgard," Odin began, leaving everyone in suspense as Thor turned to see where he was going. His vision caught on Clint, who was speaking softly to Loki as if they were coming up with a plan. Thor's eyes narrowed for a moment before he snorted.

"Father must be joking!" he boomed in laughter before continuing out of the arena to find his seat at the Royal Podium before anyone else could comment. Loki frowned at his retreating back, wishing he could have said something.

"Wow. Guess New Mexico really was needed," Clint commented with a surprised expression. Baldr snorted in amusement, his mind flashing to the events he had seen when he had first become King of Niffleheim. His snort was covered by Loki own laughter.

"You have no idea," the Lie-smith replied. Slowly they looked to Baldr, who had stopped, blocking the path to the arena. Not knowing that Baldr knew what was going on, Loki narrowed his eyes. "Yes?"

"Just wondering if you truly know what you are getting into," Baldr stated, his words turning more warning than a lighthearted statement. Clint frowned at him.

"He can more than take care of himself," Loki snipped, upset for Clint's sake. Clint simply nodded. Baldr winced, suddenly realizing how many Asgardians viewed Midgardians as weak fools at this point in time.

"No! That's not what I-" Baldr began to defend but stopped as Odin loudly spoke again.

"A Midgardian called Clint Barton!" the All-Father announced. Knowing that was his cue to head into the arena, Clint nodded at the duo before walking out into the dead silent arena.

"He'll prove himself," Loki hissed at Baldr. Baldr sighed, looking around quickly to make sure no one was near. A servant who had brought a small collection of bows was already drifting closer to the arena floor and was nearly out of earshot.

"I know he can. But I wonder, did you warn him about the intricacy of a challenge?" Baldr wondered before leading Loki toward the Royal Podium. Loki snorted.

"Yes. He'll be fine," Loki huffed before picking up his pace to get away from Baldr a little faster. Baldr sighed and slowly followed after. He could tell that so far, Loki wasn't going to trust him one bit. They arrived at the Royal Podium before anything else had happened. It was almost as if time had frozen once Clint stepped into the arena. But actually what happened was that no one was sure how to respond as Clint casually walked to the center of the arena. Gylfi stood a good four or five inches taller than Clint. He used all of that added height to look down at the human archer.

"This is a joke!" Gylfi cried, trying to figure out the truth of what was happening. He turned from Clint to face Odin. "All-Father, you must be joking."

"Have care how you speak," Thor roared, jumping to his feet. Clint sent a cryptic look to Loki that made the trickster smile. Baldr sighed as Loki followed that with a roll of his eyes. Odin sent Thor a look that had the thunderer backing down.

"Gylfi, all may challenge here before me. No matter what Realm they hail from," Odin stated, glancing around the arena to focus on everyone. Baldr followed the All-Father's line of sight and saw many turn away, ashamed. Frowning at them, he focused again on Odin. Odin actually looked rather angered and upset with his people. Could Odin actually like Midgardians? "Clint Barton of Midgard has challenged the best archer on Asgard. If you wish to refuse his challenge, your title will be stripped and you will be banished from ever entering the Halls of Valhalla."

"All-Father, I will not refuse the challenge. But does this Midgardian understand what his fate is to be if he fails?" Gylfi asked, barely sparing Clint a look. Odin sighed deeply, resigning himself to having to speak as a mediator for the Asgardian. Slowly, he turned to stare at Clint.

"All-Father, I understand that if I fail to win my challenge that I will be stripped of all my worth and left wandering the Nine Realms until my honor can be restored. I also humbly request that this fate does not fall onto Gylfi Storolfsson," Clint loudly replied. A gasp went through the crowd. Not many had ever requested that their challenged would not suffer the consequences. Loki smirked even as Baldr looked at him incredulously. This statement would confuse Gylfi and leave him off balance. While Clint didn't need it, it was nice to have something to snap back with.

"WHAT! Do you think Asgard so weak? How dare you!" Gylfi snapped, insulted. He shifted to face Clint as if he would physically attack him. Clint held his ground, knowing that if he even blinked at this moment, every Asgardian would see it as a sign of weakness.

"Trying to save you further embarrassment," Clint calmly stated, not at all surprised that Gylfi had refused what was offered. Loki had mentioned that even thinking about accepting Clint's offer could limit his status in many Asgardian's minds.

"Gylfi, you refuse the Midgardian's request?" Odin called for clarification for those that may not have heard what was being said. Gylfi nodded, glaring angrily at Clint as if he were an annoying bug. Which, in the Asgardian's defense, he might have looked at every Midgardian that way. Clint shrugged, unconcerned. He had just wanted to leave the option out there. Odin nodded to them, pleased that an agreement had been struck. "The Challenge is official!"

The crowd roared in approval as multiple servants rushed forward. Many worked on targets at a varying distance on one side of the arena. But two came forward with a selection of three bows, all of them Longbows. Gylfi snagged the one bow that looked to be in near pristine condition. It also had some fancy drawings on it. At home, Clint more than likely would have used this type of bow as a display piece, not something he'd bring to battle. The other two bows left were more well used and worn. One looked like it had a crack in it's riser, so Clint reached out for the other one, slowly inspecting every inch of it. He couldn't help but frown at it.

"What's wrong? Too stuck up for an Asgardian bow?" Gylfi taunted, knowing that the other bows were not up to standards of most Asgardians. Heck, they were typically only given to children just starting their training. Clint checked out the draw strength needed for the bow he choose. It was around what he'd typically draw when first coming off an injury. Harder and higher than any typical draw weight for Midgardian. Clint could care less.

"I'm a bit more used to Recurve bows, haven't used a Longbow since I was a kid," Clint excused, nodding his thanks to the servant who gave him a surprised look in return. He quickly started messing with the string to tighten it and increase the weight a bit. Gylfi laughed at him.

"No need to make any more excuses for when you lose. I doubt anyone here would fault you," the Asgardian told him. Clint bristled, knowing what was coming next. "We'll just blame your Midgardian genes."

"And when you lose?" Clint hissed, glancing at the new servant who held out two quivers. One held perfect and likely new arrows. The second had arrows that looked used many times over and were likely to break rather soon. Figuring he best just go with the 'humiliation', Clint choose the quiver with the worst arrows. Gylfi roared in laughter, snatching up his perfect quiver before the servant could even turn in his direction. Again, Clint tried his best to ignore it. In the stands, Baldr glanced at Loki.

"He really does like being at a disadvantage doesn't he?" the ex-god muttered, frowning at the servants below chatting about the 'stupid' Midgardian. Loki snorted.

"He is the only pure human on a team of supers who doesn't use anything but natural ability to fight. If I hadn't have ruined any potential relations with him, I'd consider him an honored friend," Loki replied. Baldr glanced at his brother to see that Loki was serious. Slowly, he turned to look at Clint.

"You don't think he'd forgive you once the truth is out?" Baldr asked. Loki frowned, turning to Baldr just as Baldr turned to look at him.

"What truth?"

"Thanos?" Baldr whispered, his eyes shifting quickly to Frigga, who glanced over for a second with a frown on her face before turning back to the spectacle before her. Loki paled slightly before frowning. He stared at Baldr hard and Baldr smiled before nodding. "Hela got annoyed with me as well."

"By the Norns! How are we going to get out of this one?" Loki cussed, swiftly looking back out to the arena when the crowed roared again. Gylfi had taken his first shot and hit 'dead' center on the closest target. Baldr winced as Clint nodded his head in appreciation.

"I don't know," Baldr admitted as Clint set himself up in an amateur/incorrect position to shoot. Loki recognized it as something close to the archer's normal stance but with only minor differences. Baldr shook his head, glancing around at the laughing Asgardians who were trained in archery. "He's gonna get himself killed."

"Or, he'll give all Midgardians a better name," Loki replied, knowing that even though this was his memories and couldn't actually change anything, it meant a great deal. Clint's shot sliced right beside Gylfi's arrow, completely shaving one of the three fletchings. The crowd went silent. Servants rushed out to measure each arrow in an effort to see which one was closest to center. After rechecking nearly four times and glancing nervously at the archers, one of the braver servants reached forward and removed Gylfi's arrow before dropping it to the ground. In doing so, he declared Clint the winner. Gylfi sputtered, looking to Clint in surprise.

"Lucky shot," Clint chuckled, giving off a clearly fake meek smile. Gylfi snarled, suddenly understanding that he probably should take this more seriously than he had been.

"Sure," he hissed before moving to take his next shot. Again, it looked 'dead' center. Without waiting, Clint's arrow flew next and landed a few millimeters above Gylfi's. Servants rushed out. With almost as much time and nervousness as before, they measured and removed Gylfi's arrow. Clint gave a smug look at Gylfi who was red with rage and embarrassment. The crowd was still silent so everyone easily heard what came next. "You cheat!"

"GYLFI!" Odin shouted, shooting to his feet in outrage. Gylfi spun to face the All-Father, his anger fading quickly to fear. "That is a serious accusation. What evidence do you have to support your claim?"

"All-Father, I claim that this Midgardian's choice in bow and arrows make his impressive shots a false claim. Also there is rumor he beds with the God of Lies," Gylfi cried. Odin glanced over to Loki, who in turn stared blankly at his 'father'. No word from his lips would be trusted at this point. The crowd rapidly burst into many conversations. Clint stepped forward and bowed slightly to Odin, making the All-Father turn to him.

"Your Majesty, if I may," Clint called over the noise. Again, the crowd went silent to listen to Clint's defense. "The bows offered to me were well worn and used many times. This does not bother me as my first bow only lasted a month before the riser broke while I was drawing back on it's string. Also, only two quivers were brought out. One had a new batch of arrows while the other, again looked well used. I have reused many arrows before and am not bothered in the slightest by some bending or cracking."

"Are you claiming your equipment in not up to standards?" Odin asked, his voice getting dangerous as he turned and gave Gylfi and the servants a hard look. Two of the servants rushed off for top of the line Asgardian weaponry. Clint inclined his head toward the floor in a submissive pose. That maybe was a mistake. Apparently trying to defend Gylfi wasn't working well.

"No. I am used to well worn equipment and have learned to work around it," Clint replied, trying to make it sound more like the bow he chose had more use than Gylfi's and better suited to work. Odin nodded, accepting Clint's claim. He turned to Gylfi.

"Do you wish to trade with him to better even your odds?" the All-Father inquired, his voice sounding deadly even though he looked smug. Gylfi glanced at Clint's bow. If any normal Asgardian tried to draw it back to full length, the riser would easily snap. Clint had even noted when he drew it back that there were some creaking and cracking noises. Gylfi gulped. If he traded and the bow broke under the strain, than Odin would certainly call him a cheater. Not only would he be banished and stripped of any title he earned, his family would be banished as well and they would never had a chance to redeem themselves for eternity. Loki stood.

"All-Father, I propose that Gylfi and Clint use the same bow and same set of arrows. That way either win will never be blamed on equipment," the trickster proposed. Odin glanced at his son. Slowly he nodded in agreement. Then stepped toward him. Loki stiffened.

"For even sake, I am also gonna to temporarily bind your magic," Odin declared. Loki paled but very slowly nodded his head in agreement. Baldr and Clint both shifted as if to stop Odin but neither wanted to cause any undue harm. In a rather simple arrangement, Odin clasped Loki's wrists for a moment and then nodded. "It is done. Loki's magic is sealed for twenty four hours."

With that Loki returned to his seat. Baldr shifted toward the trickster.

"Are you okay?" he muttered. Loki shook his head.

"Sealing my magic is and always has been dangerous. By the twelfth hour I will likely be as weak as a babe," Loki admitted. He then glanced to Baldr. "My magic is actually sealed. I believe if Hela removes us before the twenty four hours is up, I fear I may never regain my powers."

* * *

 **So, I missed last week... I was going to skip this week as well but I'm forcing myself to post early.**

 **For those of you who know, tomorrow, Friday the 13** **th** **, Clint would have been celebrating his sixth birthday. It has been tough on everyone and I have spent many days just laying in bed unable to deal with any other person. I have no idea how I will fair tomorrow so I wanted to get this out there as soon as I mentally could.**

 **In other news, Darius had his first week of school this week. He really enjoys school and is excited to go every day. Until we wake him to dress him. But once dressed, he pretty much shoves us out the door, even if he's a half hour early for his bus, lol. Baby Jason has been causing his parents some minor issues. Mostly baby related things like too gassy, too fussy, hungry, and the like. With four 'parents' around, it's easy for us to figure out what is going on.**

 **And that's it. Thank you for all who reviewed, favorited, and followed. One day soon I'll actually get back into the habit of writing all the names down. Either way, hope you enjoy and can't wait for you to read the next one.**


	18. Banishment and Plans

CHAPTER 18 – Banishment and Plans

Clint frowned. There was no way that Loki's magic being sealed wasn't going to kick them in the butt. Sadly, he couldn't dwell on that fact as now that those moments had ended and everyone 'agreed' that Clint couldn't cheat, Gylfi was already lining up his next shot. Sighing, Clint looked around the arena. Judging by the number of targets left, if he won again, then this should be it. The string twanged loudly as Gylfi let his arrow fly. Clint winced as he realized that Gylfi finally actually hit dead center. It was going to be tough to even this up. He didn't know if Asgard marked something as a tie. Gylfi laughed as the crowd roared in pleasure. He turned to look at Clint with a smug smirk.

"Beat that Midgardian!" the arrogant archer gloated as he harshly tossed his bow to Clint. Clint easily caught it and quickly noted the increased weight in the riser. It must have been made of different material to withstand battle. Clint shifted the bow to his dominate shooting hand. While he could shoot with both hands and still never miss, his accuracy improved with his left hand on the bow and his right hand drawing back. Slowly, he practiced the draw weight of the bow. It was pretty much close to what he was used to. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted a servant rushing toward him. Gylfi smirked at the man but said nothing.

"We can lower the tension for you," the young Asgardian mentioned, holding up some tool kit that would be used to do such. Clint looked over at the servant and slowly shook his head as a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Nah, this is good," Clint told him before grabbing an arrow from Gylfi's abandoned quiver. The servant blinked in surprise as Clint quickly set up his shot, easily pulling back on the higher draw weight as if it was nothing. As he lined up his shot, knowing this was much more important than the shots before it, he took his time. Behind him, he heard Gylfi gasp in surprise.

"My draw weight is nearly 300 pounds!" **(with research on Recurve bows, this is almost possible. Marvel states that Clint works with a 250 pount draw weight even though the highest actual one is only 130)** the Asgardian announced loudly, his voice echoing over the silent arena. At his words, conversations burst through the crowd as they all talked about how most Midgardians couldn't even lift that amount of weight. Clint ignored it all, focusing on the target as he held the bow in full position, a feat that impressed many Asgardians without him even making the shot. He had only done this type of shot once before, much to Buck Chisholm's chagrin. The longer he took to make sure the shot was perfect before letting go, the louder the crowd got. Not that it bothered him. He had worked in a circus. Then finally...

TWANG! THUNK!

"BY THE NORNS!" Gylfi roared in shock as Clint lowered the bow. Gylfi's arrow was perfectly split clean down the middle and Clint's arrow actually went through the target and into the stand holding it in place. Clint breathed out a sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure he'd actually be able to do it. "CHEAT! YOU MUST CHEAT!"

"Gylfi Storolfsson!" Odin shouted, making everyone go silent and turn to him. Gylfi paled lightly at the anger on the All-Father's face. "This is twice you have claimed this Midgardian is cheating. I have bound my son's magic, so he cannot be helping. Unless you can prove he cheats, YOU WILL BE BANISHED!"

"I..." Gylfi began before looking to Clint. Clint easily stared at the Asgardian, wishing that there was any possible proof that he cheated. Sadly, Clint hadn't. He was just that good. Gylfi stomped over and snatched his bow from Clint. Rapidly he inspected it as if Loki had done something to it before. Knowing there was nothing to be done, Clint narrowed his eyes. Now Gylfi had pissed him off.

"Gylfi, name a target. Anything. I'll shoot it. If I miss, you can claim victory," Clint suggested, his voice carrying over the silence. Gylfi stiffened at the Avenger's words. Slowly he got up and began looking around. Frigga took this moment to stand, hiding something in her hand. Clint glanced over to her and noticed it was some sort of ring off her finger. Suddenly, he realized how bad of an idea this was going to be.

"I challenge you both to shoot an arrow through my ring!" she loudly declared as many eyes shifted over to her. Odin turned and went to say something to her, but Frigga shook her head with a smile, her eyes focused on Clint with fierce determination. Gylfi paled, dropping his bow to his side, but not fully letting go of it. Clint shifted, unsure how this was going to go.

"My Lady... I... I can't," Gylfi admitted, almost sounding defeated. Frigga turned her full attention to Clint, the glint of a challenge and humor in her eyes. Clint stiffened, his eyes quickly shifting to Loki. Loki nodded, the unsaid words echoing over the expanse. 'Take the challenge.'

"I'll accept," Clint called, taking the bow from Gylfi even as his other hand grabbed an arrow. In a split second he had it set up and took the shot before anyone could even attempt to stop him. Instantly Asgardian guards swarmed onto Clint. They quickly subdued him, not that he put up much of a fight. Gylfi stepped away, unsure what to do. Did he lose? Was he banished? Silence reigned over the arena as Clint settled against the ground. Then suddenly, Odin began to laugh. It was as if everything froze, looking at the All-Father in stunned surprise. As Odin continued to laugh at the sight behind him, Frigga shifted to stare at the arrow that had whizzed past her before she was ready. Carefully she removed it from the wall and looked it over before seeing a glint near the fletching. She smiled at it and turned to the arena, her eyes hardening at the sight.

"Gylfi Storolfsson, you are hereby banished from Asgard with no hope for you or any of your descendants to ever regain standing in the community," Frigga announced. Gylfi dropped to his knees in shock at the command. In all his wildest dreams, he never imagined he'd lose to a Midgardian. Frigga turned to the pile of Asgardians on top of Clint. "Release Clint Barton of Midgard. He has proven his honor here on Asgard and shall be treated with the respect he deserves. From this moment on, Clint Barton is the greatest archer on Asgard and Midgard!"

Slowly, Clint was released and let back onto his feet. He hadn't expected that last part to happen. As he got up, he looked at Gylfi. The Asgardian looked shattered. Clint couldn't help but feel bad for him. Sighing, he offered the bow back to the distressed guy. Gylfi grunted at the offer, shaking his head in despair. The bow had been made specifically for him. Its designs held symbols of his family crest and the various honors he had received in his lifetime. And now... Now it was all for naught.

"I'm... Banished... That... That isn't my bow anymore," Gylfi carefully stated, making sure that his tone couldn't disrespect the archer now in a higher status than him. Clint paled, looking down at it. He hadn't expected that banishment would be so harsh.

"I'm-" he started but stopped as Gylfi shook his head.

"Don't..." Gylfi interrupted. "Whatever you say will just make this worse."

"Come on, you need to leave," one of the guards harshly mentioned, lightly kicking Gylfi's depressed form. Gylfi nodded, before getting up to his feet. Slowly, he methodically stripped the armor he had been wearing. By the time Gylfi was standing between the guards and Clint in nothing other than his underclothes, Loki and Baldr had arrived. Clint looked at them, a small frown appearing on his face. Pointedly, neither of them even glanced at Gylfi who bowed lowly to them, something Clint remembered he didn't do before. As Gylfi stood back up, only Clint noticed the tears in the archer's eyes as he sighed and walked away.

"I really feel like this is unfair," Clint muttered as the guards turned and followed Gylfi, determined to make sure he actually left Asgard. Loki glanced back at the now demoted archer. He had faint memories of seeing him defending the people on the Bifrost as they rushed onto the ship. But he had no knowledge of if he survived to New Asgard.

"These events never actually happened. Gylfi held the honor of being Asgard's greatest archer for as long as Asgard existed," Loki mumbled, trying to remember who had been on the ship.

"Gylfi lies in Valhalla, well honored in his role," Baldr confirmed without being asked. Loki sighed deeply. So many great warriors were lost in battling Hela. It was a tragedy. Clint glanced at Baldr in surprise, wondering what was going on.

"Baldr?" he called. Baldr nodded, having forgot that the archer had been busy with the challenge to actually know that he had been sent in as well. Clint blinked rapidly at him before sagging. "What happens now?"

"Now? We pray Hela doesn't release us until Loki gets his magic unsealed," Baldr warned. If they attempted anything too soon, Hela might realize what was going on and take them out. Clint looked to Loki and somehow, he could already tell that the trickster had something going on. It wasn't weakness... Just an overall sense of incompleteness.

"If I return to my body now, I may forever lose my magic. We need to stay," Loki admitted as softly as he could. Clint sighed deeply, looking around.

"Okay, twenty-four hours... Shouldn't be too bad," Clint replied, forgetting how troublesome those words could be. It was like asking for danger and trouble to fall onto them. Loki snorted, turning to look at the slowly dispersing crowd. Many had stayed in their places and glared down at the trickster, silently promising retribution for whatever slight he had laid upon them. Others even glared down at Clint. Gylfi had been well loved in Asgard, his defeat would not be taken lightly. Slowly, Loki turned back to Baldr and Clint.

"That would be a gross under estimate of how many Asgardians we have pissed off."

* * *

"You do realize that I've never actually worked on space travel before. I mean, outside of a suit or two but that wasn't travel just kind of, if I go through a portal I'd wanna last longer than I did last time," Tony frantically joked, looking over the group that had assembled to discuss plans on what to do next. After learning that they needed the other Soul Stone that was on another planet, Strange opened a portal to bring them back to New Asgard. Only Thor stayed behind to keep an eye on Loki's body, no matter how much Strange insisted Wong could handle it and that the King should return to New Asgard. Thor was not swayed in the least.

"Well, it shouldn't be that hard," Bruce mumbled, looking around at the group. Once he knew he had everyone's attention, he glanced at the gigantic hulks of broken metal that the Asgardians had used to come here. Even after the explosions from before, much of the ship was surprisingly in 'okay' condition. "Most of the work has been done and... There has to be at least one or two Asgardians here that can help fix that."

"I shall ask, but many of those that were saved were of a lower class. Most worked in fields or positions of markets. Those that had more mastered skills, Hela either destroyed or had joined her side in an effort to stay alive," Heimdall replied, glancing back at the sprawling city behind him. He had spent longer with these people than any of the Avengers and certainly of Val. Only he would be trusted enough to search for help. Nodding to the group, he, with Val beside him, headed into the city to find help.

"We can use all the help we can get on this one. Hela is not just a threat to Asgard. The longer she holds onto her Soul Stone, the bigger we risk that she'll collect all who would be able to stop her," Strange warned. The group had mixed reactions to that.

"You don't think we can stop her in time?" Wanda asked, her skin pale with worry. She had been at Loki's side when they first confronted her. Hela must have sensed her power. Loki had even mentioned that she could give Hela a 'run for her money.' Strange looked at her and sighed. He hadn't wanted to scare the witch but it needed to be said. If Hela was watching them and believed even one of them to be a challenge, she might take their soul as well.

"Once she realizes we are trying, she'll take us down, one by one. The fact that she hasn't already either means she is dealing with other enemies or Clint and Loki are giving her a harder time than she expected," Strange told the group, making sure they understood the true danger they were all in. Some of them looked distressed while others looked on as if daring Hela to take them. "Her attack on Loki in the Sanctum proves that distance and other magic can't stop her."

"That's messed up," Tony hissed, turning to look at the broken ship. He could tell it was their last hope. The final piece in what seemed to be an endless issue in their lives. Not for the first time did Tony regret setting the Accords into motion. Even with it gone now, many 'heroes' were still in hiding, fearing it all a trick.

"Well, lets work more quietly. Limit the amount of people involved so she doesn't focus on us," Steve suggested, pointedly looking at everyone. They all shifted, unsure who should start. Finally, Pietro raised his hand. Steve arched an eyebrow at him. They weren't little kids in school.

"I promised Clint that I'd watch his family. As much as I'd love to help, I'm needed here," the speedster defended, almost waiting for someone to argue with him. Steve nodded.

"With Clint under Hela's control, she might go for his family first if he causes too big an issue. Watching over them is an important job," Steve clarified, making Pietro feel like he'd be more useful here. Pietro sagged in relief before giving Wanda a quick peck on the cheek and vanishing. Again, the group paused.

"You know, I can hardly walk without the armor. And, I've been acting as a liaison for the President. I think that is... Not really more important but, needed right now. These people are lost, confused and in need of help," Rhodey called, looking toward Sam for help. Sam frowned before nodding and turning to Steve.

"Look, it'd be great to help but... We can't just leave these people without help. What if Hela comes here?" the Air-Force flyer added. Steve smiled at them. Too be honest, he never expected either of them to agree.

"I'll, uh, help with the ship but... It's getting harder and harder to come back from being the other guy. And, I really don't want to find out if I can return to my body if Hela takes my soul. The other guy might just take over," Bruce pointed out, making a convincing argument even if Hulk would be helpful against Hela. That might be the best decision.

"You can stay here and like Colonel Rhodes and Sam, help defend New Asgard if Hela focuses here," Steve near about ordered. Bruce paled lightly but nodded. He really didn't want to face Hela at all. Especially after last time. Steve turned to Vision.

"I fear it may be dangerous to allow another stone in her presence that is not protected by lead. And quite like Dr. Banner, would I have a soul or even a body to return too?" Vision wondered, glancing between Wanda and Tony as if they had the answer. When neither answered, Vision focused on Steve. "I shall help Colonel Rhodes and Master Wilson in relations between Asgard and the citizens of America."

"As much as I wanna check out space... I..." Tony stuttered, falling silent as he looked down. His body shuddered at memories of New York and suffocating in space as he watched the Chitauri blow up. Bruce put a hand on his shoulder, knowing of Tony's issues over New York. "I don't think I'd be much help."

"It's okay Tony. We really don't want a big group," Steve repeated, his voice soothing as if he knew how hard it was for Tony to admit he was terrified of space no matter how much he wanted to go back. Tony nodded, but those closest to him could tell he felt guilty and embarrassed that he couldn't help a friend in a large capacity.

"My experience is needed to find this other stone, so I must go," Strange reported, mentally wishing that he had stayed in the Sanctum and sent Wong in his place. Of anyone, Wanda and he would be the first ones Hela would attack. Steve nodded and turned to the remaining three.

"I don't know how much I can help but... I want to help. Hela saw me already, no matter where I am, I'm a sitting duck. And I can't stand the thought that she'd take me and I wasn't even trying to help," Wanda declared, basically daring someone to bench her. Steve nodded again. So that was three going.

"Til the end of the line, punk," Bucky hissed, his eyes narrowed as he dared Steve to sideline him again. Steve frowned at his old friend but didn't argue. He had half expected that the remaining people would want to help. Slowly, he looked to Natasha, knowing the answer before he even looked. Her eyes narrowed, watching him, waiting for him to ask. After a moment, he sighed.

"Five of us will have to be small enough," Steve announced as if no one else understood what happened. Bucky snorted.

"Six if Thor wants to defend his brother rather than watch over him," Bucky pointed out. Steve groaned, having forgot that the god wasn't here to put in his own choice. Bucky was right, if Thor realized they were going after Hela, he'd want to be on that team.

"If Thor couldn't stop her before, with Loki at his side, I doubt she'd fear him alongside five humans," Wanda defended. "It's not like she knows anything about us."

"Let's pray," Steve muttered.

* * *

 **I'm sorry for not updating sooner. Kinda... Forgot... Been spending a lot of time writing. And reading... And sleeping... But, hey. I'm here.**

 **Darius is doing great. Gave me a scare on Friday night... But all is well. He's still loving school and daycare. Causes 'issues' at home like any normal child. But he's good. Getting better at listening now that I've finally decided I should act more like the parent I am. Now when he gives me issues, I punish him by putting him in his room. Can't remember if I mentioned them before, but my house guests are settling in. Baby Jason is being typical baby, getting upset at nothing, playing, and stuff like that. He's gotten a bit of a cold recently but nothing too worrying about. Just some runny nose and a bit of coughing. Nothing in the lungs or anything like that. So, all is good.**

 **And that's that. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows! Till next time, enjoy.**


	19. Connections

CHAPTER 19 – Connections

"Twas an impressive display of marksmanship," Thor complimented, coming toward the group in a slow and deliberately impressive manner. Clint, Loki and Baldr turned to look at the thunder god. Loki shifted himself to be ready to defend Clint at a moments notice. Baldr also shifted to watch Clint's other side. Clint, who hadn't really moved, quickly noted that Frigga was gracefully following behind the thunderer, watching the display with an air of curiousness.

"Uh... Thanks," Clint replied, unsure how to correctly act. When Thor had been on Earth, Clint had responded by shooting an enemy that was trying to sneak up on him and Thor had laughed. This time there was no enemy. Thor's eyes narrowed at Clint as Baldr nudged the archer in his side. After a second's hesitation, Clint quickly bowed to Thor and Frigga. Thor smirked at the action before turning his attention to Loki.

"Since we now know you cannot cheat, want to spar?" Thor challenged, his voice already betraying how he expected the fight to go as he looked to his younger brother. Loki stiffened, unsure what to do. If he rejected Thor's offer, Thor would spread the news around Asgard and however long they were trapped, Loki would suffer. But if he accepted, he wasn't sure he stood a chance against Thor at all. Frigga stepped closer.

"Thor, enough. The challenge was declared that we must respect Loki's use of magic instead of force. We will do as the challenge says," Frigga calmly ordered, glancing at Thor to make sure her point stuck. Clint straightened, glad he had mentioned that instead of people leaving him alone. Loki shot a quick look at Clint. The trickster was still shocked that Clint did the challenge as a way to defend his honor rather than gaining respect. Thor frowned, turning to his mother.

"But Mother," Thor whined. Clint frowned. He could see why Loki got Thor banned from Asgard just before the coronation. Thor really was a stuck up, self-centered, ass.

"Lady Frigga uses magic in battle. Do you make fun of her?" Clint snapped, unable to hold it back. Everyone's attention snapped to him, surprised that he'd make such a stand. Thor's vision leveled into a glare.

"Have care how you speak. Your marksmanship may have you beating Gylfi in a challenge but you will not last in true battle," Thor stated, harshly. Clint's eyes narrowed, and he went to defend himself against Thor when Loki stepped between them.

"As wonderful as all this is, Thor, are you not to meet your friends later?" Loki questioned, using that to distract the thunderer. Thor's head raised, a sure sign of his dominance over Loki and Clint, before nodding and turning on his heel. He made sure to nod his respect for Frigga before walking away. Frigga made sure her son was gone before moving closer to the trio left behind.

"Clint Barton, you are very impressive," Frigga said as Loki shifted back to his original position. Clint nodded a hello to her, still unsure what to say. Was she going to be just as offensive as before? But there seemed to be something about her now. She was holding herself differently, her eyes more friendly. Almost like how she had been when Clint first arrived. So it was a surprise when her eyes narrowed suddenly. "But you don't belong here."

Clint, Loki and Baldr stiffened at her words. They didn't sound as harshly as she looked but they had no idea what was going on. Could Hela have taken on the role of Frigga? This was supposed to be Loki's memories and even though this challenge never happened in real life, Frigga could not know what was happening. But then again, Baldr had learned a lot while watching over his family in Nifflheim. Frigga smiled at their reaction.

"Fear not. I didn't sense it before when I first met you, but I can sense it now. All three of you are not supposed to be here," Frigga pointed out, looking at each of them in turn. Still unsure what Frigga could know, Baldr stepped forward.

"Mother-" Baldr started but Frigga raised a hand to stop him. Even after hundreds of years of not dealing with Frigga, Baldr still stopped dead in his tracks at her hand.

"Years ago, I had two visions of today. One involved a Midgardian besting an Asgardian in challenge and another where I lost a son," Frigga told the trio, glancing at Clint, Loki and Baldr in turn. Loki and Baldr exchanged looks. While Baldr hadn't really had a chance to speak to Loki, he had forgiven the trickster for what happened. In fact, it was needed.

"You can see the future?" Clint asked skeptically. Frigga chuckled.

"Not fully. There are spells one can cast to get a glimpse of a possible future," Frigga explained. Loki's eyes darkened.

"I thought that magic was forbidden," Loki accused. Frigga turned and gave him a bland look. After a moment, Loki sighed. "Of course, you would be above the rules."

"Most of those rules were made to protect you," Baldr softly mumbled, remembering being with Odin and Frigga as they tried to decide which spells would make Loki most dangerous in the future. Loki turned to Baldr with a hard look. Frigga sighed. She always hated the way Odin treated any of his kids.

"Odin fears... Or feared, your magic. Many of the banned spells would make you stronger than him and certainly a danger to all of the Nine Realms if you ever decided to take control. He couldn't allow something like that, a... So, he... He," Frigga paused, unsure how to state these next facts without ruining any relations between Loki and Odin. She had no idea that it was already ruined.

"He kept Loki down. Allowed all the mental abuse so that Loki could hardly think he was worthy," Clint harshly finished for her. Frigga sighed before nodding. It was the only way to explain the relationship that Odin had with his youngest 'son.' Loki snorted, looking away.

"I did not agree with his methods but... Odin is stubborn and I feared the worst," Frigga defended, looking softly at Loki with the air of a mother desperate for her child to love her as much as she loved him. Loki scoffed and turned away from her completely.

"Abuse is abuse, doesn't matter the form," Clint muttered, thinking back on his own history. Frigga winced. It was true.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore. All the lies, deception..." Loki mumbled then scoffed again. "I guess I did take after him in many of my ways."

"This... This is not what I am here to talk about," Frigga told them, her voice filled with hurt and pain. Loki turned back to her but couldn't hold onto the angered face he wanted to level at her. Instead his face looked much like her voice. Hurt, pained and upset. Frigga sighed. "I'm here to see if I can help."

* * *

Realizing that the next conversation was best done in private, Frigga had them all move to Loki's room. She knew that Loki had long ago set up permanent privacy modes on his rooms. Privacy spells that Odin and she had never been able to break. Loki and Baldr quickly relaxed on the two couches in the sitting room, each opposite of each other. Clint moved to stand, opposite of Loki, but in such a way that he could see all the seats, both doors and all but one window, the only window behind him. Frigga was tempted to say something about Clint's choice but decided it best to leave it alone. She chose one of the single seats that could see all three.

"Now, what is going on?" Frigga demanded, looking at the three. Loki turned to Baldr, as if he had the answer while Baldr had turned to look at Loki. Clint was focused on all of them and hardly responded. This whole thing started with Loki pissing off Hela, but Clint was first to be taken. Sighing, Clint rolled his eyes.

"Hela," the archer called. Frigga raised an eyebrow. There was no way he could know about that, unless he said the name wrong and actually meant Hel. Clint snorted at her. "Apparently Thor is not Odin's first born."

"Odin trapped her in Niffleheim. She couldn't... Unless," Frigga responded, her voice going softer and slightly more desperate. She stood and started pacing the front half of the room.

"Odin is dead... Asgard is no more... But Hela refused to give up," Loki hissed, more upset with himself now than ever before. Thor was right, it was his fault that Hela had the ability to escape. If he hadn't used his magic to spirit Odin to Midgard, the All-Father would have had the strength to keep holding her trapped. Frigga made a distressed sound, almost like a curse but said in a way that no one understood it. After a few more turns around the room, she sighed and sat down. Slowly, she looked up to Clint.

"How are you involved?" she wondered, unsure that Clint even really knew any other Asgardian other than Loki. Clint shrugged. No matter how much he was told, it made no sense to him.

"She claimed that both Thor and Loki were 'invested' in me. Once she was released from, wherever, she thought it was a good idea to... Curse me I guess. Sent a letter to my home. Made it that I'd die in their presence or something," Clint explained, lost a bit on the details on what Hela meant. He hadn't fully paid attention to her 'villain' speech. Frigga frowned. She hadn't expected a Midgardian to be attached to all of her children.

"Invested?" she repeated, curious as to how the Asgardian mind set about Midgardians could have changed. Especially the mind set of her eldest son.

"Thor was 'banished' to Midgard. During his time there, he fell in love with a Midgardian. Upon his return, he swore allegiance to protect all of Midgard," Loki mentioned, pausing before his big role. There was no way he wanted to bring that up unless needed. Clint narrowed his eyes at Loki but decided it was best to leave it. No need to get too deeply into things that didn't fully involve the situation they were dealing with.

"Sadly, Hela is not the only threat to Midgard. Thanos is coming," Baldr warned, mostly looking at Loki and Clint as he said this. Loki paled as Clint frowned, not knowing who Thanos was. Frigga shook her head in disbelief. Baldr turned to his mother, finally intent on letting everyone know what actually happened. "He was already partially aware at this time. He... He had control of me. Loki killing me saved all of Asgard."

"Should we be worried now?" Frigga wondered, her hands glowing with magic to stop whatever. Baldr shook his head no. While yes they are trapped in Loki's memories, it was just memories and not actual events.

"Hela... She used the Soul Stone to capture us. All these events... This moment, happened to us long ago," Baldr said. Frigga stiffened. She was only Loki's memory of his mother and not actually Frigga. Her realizing this was a shock. But then the words mixed through more.

"The Soul Stone used by...?"

"Hel in Nifflheim, yes," Baldr answered. Frigga stood and began pacing the room again. Clint shifted, watching her and trying to get a sense of what was going on.

"I'm sorry but... Thanos?" he asked, realizing everyone but he knew who that was.

"The Mad-Titan. He... He courts Death," Loki explained, looking to Clint who furrowed his brow. Loki shook his head before the archer could speak. "Death with a capital 'D.' She is an Old-Soul. Original goddess, one could say. Thanos kills in her name while also claiming he is justified. Claims that he must kill to save resources for those he lets live."

"Oh..." Clint retorted, dreading having to deal with someone that Asgardians feared more than Hela.

"How close is he?" Frigga hissed, turned back to her sons. Baldr looked to Loki.

"He... He had the mind stone," Loki mentioned, turning so he couldn't see Clint at all. Clint's eyes narrowed for a moment before he realized what Loki was talking about.

"The Scepter! He... You!" Clint cried, shocked. Loki winced as Frigga frowned, looking between the archer and trickster. After a moment, she realized there was much more to the story than what they were telling her.

"I need all the details! Now!" Frigga ordered.

"After Thor was sent to Midgard, I... Fell from the Bifrost. For a year, I was tortured by Thanos before promising him the Space Stone," Loki admitted, still not looking at Clint.

"The Tesseract?" Clint wondered. Loki slowly nodded.

"Thanos... He gave me the... Scepter imbued with the Mind Stone so that I could easily control those who could aid me," Loki continued, glancing briefly at Clint whom eyes hardened at this. Frigga nodded, looking between the two.

"You used the Mind Stone on him?" she clarified, nodding to Clint. Both Loki and Clint nodded. "There is the connection to you."

"What?" Loki wondered, jerking up in his seat to focus on Frigga. Frigga smiled softly.

"You may not know this but... I have my own history with the Infinity Stones. The Mind Stone, if not used properly, can leave traces inside those used upon it," Frigga replied. Clint paled. He had always thought Loki had a way into his mind. "I assume the first time you used it, it was on Clint?"

"Yes, but I also used it on others! Others that also had a connection to Thor," Loki admitted, glancing to Clint with worry. Frigga sighed before mumbling something under her breath. Suddenly the room lit up with multi-colored strings that headed off in various directions. Clint stiffened, shifting away as much as possible but noted that many strings were attached to him.

"Each of these strings represent connections to others," Frigga quickly told the trio as Loki and Baldr jumped to their feet. She moved deeper into the room, absently waving her hands. Slowly various strings vanished until there was maybe twenty or so left. "These strings are the strongest bonds."

"Mother?" Baldr asked, surprised he only had four while Clint and Loki had near double that.

"Your strings are less because you... You died so long ago. Had this been the correct time, you'd have more. These two strings represent, Odin," Frigga began, pointing to two strings (one from Loki the other Baldr) that vanished in the general direction of the throne room. "Thor," this time the string headed toward the window Clint did not have sight line through. It was in the direction of the training grounds. This time there were more than just two strings. Loki had five while both Clint and Baldr had one. "Myself," she continued, pointing to her chest. Surprisingly she only had two strings, Loki and Baldr. Then she pointed to the one string attaching Baldr and Loki. "And each other."

"What about you?" Clint nodded, pointing out that she only had two. Frigga smiled, honestly surprised that it was Clint who noticed and not Loki.

"The spell cannot be used on the caster unless the caster had connections with those he or she casted it on," she explained. Clint then glanced at Loki. He had four more headed off to the training grounds and five headed to the ceiling and one pulsing bright string attached to himself. Their string was stronger than Loki had with those of his family.

"I'm assuming the Warrior's Three and Sif," Loki scoffed at the strings headed after Thor's. Frigga nodded. "But what of these?"

"Strings that vanish like that means they are far away. And considering the colors, I assume Clint knows them as well," Frigga mentioned, pointing to the amount of strings that Clint had leading to the ceiling. Clint then looked at himself and the colors of the strings. Slowly he compared the other strings that Loki and Baldr shared with each other and himself before focusing on the strings above him. Then it hit.

"The Avengers!" he gasped. Loki's eyes darkened.

"That explains four of mine. Your loyal Captain, the Widow, the insufferable Stark and the green monster," Loki listed, pointing to each and every one. Then he pointed to the final string he had. "But the last?"

"Wanda," Clint softly said, focusing harder on the strings.

"The Witchling?" Loki called in surprise. Clint nodded. Suddenly the strings vanished. Loki and Clint snapped their necks to look at Frigga.

"The strings don't just represent your past, but also how close you can be in the future," Frigga hinted, her vision focusing on Loki. The trickster scoffed, wondering how he was going to ever get close with the other Avengers after everything he had done.

"I'm to be friends with them?" Loki growled, going for anger over disbelief. Clint snorted, laughing at a near private joke.

"You can join the 'mind-fucked' group," he chuckled. Loki turned, raising an eyebrow. Was there really such a group? "Tasha was used by the Red Room for most of her life. They confused her into thinking she could only be a weapon. Me of course was obviously you. Bucky Barnes, Cap's friend from the 40s, suffered near 70 years of torment by Hydra. Hell, even Wanda could be part of it cause of Ultron convincing her he was building a better world."

"I don't understand," Loki mumbled, frowning as he wondered if Clint was truly saying what he thought the archer was. Clint shrugged.

"Thanos tortured you for a year. Right after you were rejected by family. He 'fucked' with you. Ain't your fault what happened after that," Clint admitted, suddenly realizing he wasn't as upset with Loki now. In fact, it felt good that there was someone else to blame. Somehow, he knew that Loki wasn't really responsible. Just like everyone had always told him. It wasn't his fault that magic was used on him. Magic that Clint could not fight. Loki blinked rapidly in surprise. He couldn't believe that forgiveness was that easy. There had to be some sort of catch.

"As nice as all this is, how does know this help us defeat Hela?" Baldr wondered. Frigga sighed, of course they had to get back to that.

"The Soul Stone that Hela is using belongs to a weaker set than the original. Looking closer at you now, Clint, I can see signs that you have been affected by others of this same set," Frigga mentioned.

"Uh... I guess the Mind Stone, twice. Second time... Well, the Avengers switched bodies," Clint replied. Loki raised an eyebrow at that, curious as to who ended up being who. He snickered as he imagined Steve or Tony in Natasha's body. "And the Soul Stone but before that the Reality Stone."

"The Aether?" Baldr questioned. Frigga shook her head no.

"I can tell that you have been affected by three from one set and two from the other," Frigga clarified. Clint frowned before realizing she meant the Tesseract. It must have left residual affects on him. "By understanding your history, I am able to place what is going on and maybe how to fix it."

"My magic! We can't do anything till I get it back," Loki cried, moving to stop her as if Frigga was going to do something that second. Frigga raised an eyebrow.

"Your magic was never sealed properly. This is only a memory. Once Hela pulls you back, your magic will return. If you stay here for the twenty-four hours, you will regain ability to use it after. Nor will you feel any side effects from the spell," Frigga soothed. Loki frowned but couldn't help the sigh of relief. He had been so worried that Hela was going to remove them and then he'd never get his magic back. Baldr sat back down with a sigh. Clint looked everyone over.

"So... How do we get back?"

* * *

 **Ugh... I missed so many weeks. I keep losing track of time. It's bad. Gonna set a weekly alert in my phone soon.**

 **Darius has been doing well. A pain in the butt a lot of the days but when isn't he. Stress from other issues keeps making it that hubby and I have a hard time dealing with him. Baby Jason is good. On and off with good days and bad days. And lastly, as I write this, our dog Appa is pissing me off. I had him all nice and trained to do things a certain way but now, other people keep getting involved with dealing with him and all that training is just out the window. ARGH! I don't know what to do about it.**

 **Anyways, that's it for now. Currently going back and reworking After Loki, the technical beginning to this whole series even if it doesn't fully fit in. Trying to make it and the following stories flow better, especially now that I am close to ending the series. Hope you all enjoy and pray that I post again on time next week.**


	20. Relations

CHAPTER 20 - Relations

"Sadly, I do not have a full answer to that. What Hela has done to all three of you is so interconnected that it is not all that simple," Frigga replied. Clint's shoulders sagged in defeat before he could even attempt to stop himself. Loki turned his eyes away from the others while Baldr maintained eye contact with his mother. Frigga frowned at them. "In the past, how have you woken yourselves?"

"Uh... I guess I just realized that my memories differed from what was happening to me. Much like a nightmare, I just... Woke up," Clint explained, mostly unsure how he woke up all those times before. It was never really a conscious decision. Just a feeling of wrongness before it ended.

"Hela trapped me in a cell, bound to the floor so... This is the first 'memory' I've been put through," Baldr supplied, glancing at Loki. Loki looked around at the three before sighing.

"Also my first time," Loki added, not wanting to give up too much information. Frigga nodded, looking the trio over. She had assumed that it would have been Clint's first time. Midgardians typically did not handle the power of the Infinity Stones well. Her eyes narrowed as she focused further on Clint. The archer squirmed under the gaze.

"Not much to use there. I'm assuming those 'nightmares' you mention put you in danger?" Frigga questioned, scanning the archer over with her magic to better understand why Clint could hold out as well as he was. Clint nodded as he did a full body shudder. Frigga raised an eyebrow as Loki glanced at Clint. Had the archer sensed Frigga's magic? What did Clint know? Figuring that was better left till later, Frigga moved on. "That won't do. Hard to put Baldr in danger at this point."

"Well, I did die not long after this day," Baldr pointed out. Frigga sighed as Clint chuckled. He could almost picture Loki dangling mistletoe before Baldr as the other Asgardian tried to run away. Loki also cracked a smile. Knowing Clint, he figured out what the archer was thinking about.

"I do wish to apologize for that. I had lost track of whom I had spoken too. By the time I realized I had missed it, it was too late," Frigga murmured, giving Baldr a guilty look. Baldr gave her a soft smile. "I would fix it now, but that will only help inside this memory."

"So anything that happens to us here, won't effect us once we leave?" Clint asked, remembering the few 'deaths' he had been forced to endure. Yes, he had never been physically injured when he 'woke' but magic tended to randomly break rules. Frigga nodded.

"These events already took place. My own magic makes it easier for me to call upon your memories of the future and help me keep them," Frigga told him.

"But… Does that mean nothing changed?" Clint replied, wondering if his archery contest was basically wasted. Frigga shook her head.

"In here, the events have changed. What happened will still happen, but background moments will still follow the same turn of events," Frigga answered.

"At the time of the contest, Thor would still be fighting Baldr. Then I'd have a turn. By about now or so, I would have stormed back into my rooms, furious at the humiliation I endured," Loki muttered before anyone could ask. Baldr and Frigga winced, both knowing what that fight would have looked like. It had been bad. "A few minutes after that... Odin visited me."

"So, is Father coming?" Baldr wondered. Loki nodded even as Frigga closed her eyes, trying to place where her husband was. He was close and getting closer. Frigga could also tell he was upset.

"Odin is indeed coming. We shall meet again later. Baldr, please," Frigga called, holding her arm out to be taken. Baldr nodded, getting to his feet. As they headed to the door, Frigga paused, looking back at Clint. "Play your part well, archer. That competition brought a lot of attention to you. Not all Asgardians will take it lightly."

"Understood," Clint replied, already wondering how much more he'd have to do to prove he could handle himself. That he's just as good as any Asgardian. Loki glanced at the archer in sympathy. He never was able to ever prove himself either. Glad she got her point across, Frigga left the room, laughing suddenly as if Baldr had said a joke. As the door shut, Loki focused on Clint.

"I apologize," Loki started, feeling bad that Clint was now in a worse position. Clint raised a hand to stop him speaking.

"Nah, dude. You were trying to help. It's cool. Just kinda glad I don't have to play it up as... Your little Midgardian play toy," Clint said, shuddering at the last words. Loki sighed.

"If I hadn't taken you with the Mind Gem, Midgard would not have withstood the Chitauri forces. New York would be a radioactive wasteland and much of the population either killed or in hiding. And the Chitauri would not have stopped there. Asgard was next on their list. By that time, no force would stop them," Loki explained, glad to finally officially inform someone of what he had done and why. Clint frowned, looking at the trickster.

"So... You took me to lose?" the archer clarified. Loki nodded his head. For a moment, Clint was going to leave it at that but. If Loki wanted to lose, why not just come to Earth and ask for help? Or even give a warning? Then Clint realized, his face growing shocked. "Thanos used the Mind Gem on you?"

"After nearly a year of torture," Loki added. Clint winced. "I say this not for sympathy but so that you understand why I was forced to do what I did."

"Was everyone able to fight the Mind Gem but me?" Clint groaned, turning to walk around the room. Loki raised an eyebrow at the archer, not understanding. "Selvig put in the fail safe, you chose me to help defeat the Chitauri and... All I did was tell you everything you wanted and kill people."

"You shot your Director in the chest. That woman, Hill? You hesitated with each shot so that they missed by millimeters. The people you recruited to help us had highly sordid pasts and likely to be hunted by your law," Loki described. Clint went to argue but Loki raised a hand. "Those security guards were using their money to torture women on the streets. And nearly all you personally attacked on the flying ship, survived. Not only that, you crippled the ship but could have easily destroyed it without even exiting that jet, while knowing I would survive."

"I-" Clint started, shocked that Loki knew the list of things that everyone had told him over and over. They had repeated it so many times that he finally stopped acting guilty in front of them. But the whole thing still bothered him a great deal.

"The Mind Gem gave me insight into your mind. I could tell you didn't want to hurt innocents, so I helped steer your mind into the information you needed. You fought. In fact, had I not given you as much leeway as I did, you would have broken the control and possibly have ruined your mind. When your Widow friend attacked, I had very little control over you. You hated attacking the carrier but I needed you distracted, so I made your feelings for me briefly transfer to the Widow so both of you wouldn't see the bigger picture I was painting," Loki explained. Clint blinked rapidly, digesting the information as quickly as possible. Loki gave him a soft smile. He had never meant for Clint to suffer as long as the archer clearly had, but there had been no way to have this conversation before now. As Clint went to thank the trickster at the same time Loki decided he should explain his choice even further, a loud, banging knock sounded on the door. Both of them froze. "Odin."

"Do you want me?" Clint stuttered, his hands waving between Loki's bedroom and the room they were in. Loki sighed before nodding his head toward the couch. Clint gave him a supportive smile and sat down. Loki couldn't help but smirk as he went and answered the door. Like Loki had thought, Odin stood regally outside. Loki couldn't help but stiffen. How dearly he wanted to call Odin by his name, but at this time, Odin was still considered-

"Father," he gritted out. Clint let out a soft grunt, a warning for Loki. The trickster didn't respond.

"Loki, I wish to speak with you," Odin all but demanded. Clint rolled his eyes, half surprised that Odin didn't just force himself into the room. Loki nodded, backing away from the door to allow the All-Father entrance. Odin did as such, his gaze quickly focusing on Clint. The look the man gave was harsh and angered which made Clint stiffen, almost making him want to obey the Aesir's every wish. After a moment, Odin turned back to Loki. "Alone."

"What can be said to me, can be said before him," Loki replied, closing the door as if trapping the three of them inside. Odin sniffed in dismissal, glancing at Clint once again. Clint crossed his arms over his chest and stared the All-Father down. Loki was a mixed shocked, fearful and impressed by the archer. Not many dared to even try to stand up to Odin.

"Is he your play toy or beloved?" Odin sneered, his gaze not leaving Clint's face. Fearing the worst, Loki tried to cast a silencing spell on Clint. The trickster cursed the Norns as Clint's eyes flicked to him but, the archer didn't even attempt to speak.

"Does it truly matter? Thor have had many of each," Loki countered. Odin's gaze snapped to his 'son.' Clint raised an eyebrow. Thor had mentioned before that he wasn't all that well mannered as the others had known him. He had many stories of women he had met is bars and taverns, but Clint had never truly thought that all those women had been _with_ Thor.

"I speak not of Thor," Odin hissed as if Loki accused him rather than the thunderer. Clint frowned, glaring at Odin. Loki chuckled, leaning back a bit as if daring Odin to strike.

"Oh, don't try and fool me _father_ ," Loki taunted. Odin stiffened, almost recognizing the tone Loki used on the last word. Loki's eyes narrowed, wondering if he could get Odin to admit about his hereditary now. "You allow Thor to take on multiple lovers but I try for even one and it becomes an issue."

"It is expected of Thor," Odin tried, his voice dark and dangerous. Loki scoffed.

"Expected? Expected of him? Why? Because he is a Prince? I'm a Prince. Why can't I do it as well?" Loki snarled, moving closer to Odin.

"Because you are not him!" Odin snapped. Loki rolled his eyes.

"Of course. And that's what it always comes down to. I AM NOT THOR! I can't act like him. I can't be him. I can't have friends or lovers like him. Can't adventure alone like him! Norns, I've never been punished like him," Loki cried. Clint shifted in his seat. Maybe he shouldn't have stayed.

"Cause you are supposed to be better!" Odin roared. Loki paused. The All-Father had said this before. In the Vaults, just before falling into Odinsleep. "You are supposed to be a guiding light."

"You want them to rule together," Clint whispered, his voice awed. Loki and Odin looked to him, surprised. It was like they had both forgotten he was there. "You want Thor sitting on the throne to look threatening and powerful. But you know he won't stay back if Asgard goes to war. So Loki is supposed to stay behind, in the shadows, guiding everything."

"Shadows. Of course. You never pictured me above Thor. I'm always to be lesser than him," Loki angrily muttered, clearly seeing Clint's point based on this interaction and what Thor had likely mentioned to the others before. Odin sneered at Clint as if the archer had personally insulted him.

"Don't presume to know me mortal," Odin growled. Not wanting to deal with that, Clint stood. Instantly, Loki realized this might be a bad thing.

"No. You need to open your blind eye! This treatment of Loki is killing him. You can't keep him hidden behind you!" Clint shouted, sick and tired of the bullshit this family had. Even if it never changed Loki's history, something needed to be done. Odin's one eye widened before narrowing. The All-Father flicked his wrist at the archer and Clint suddenly found himself tossed across the room, his back slamming into a bookshelf with a mighty crack. Loki jerked forward, his face horrified.

"Do not test me again, mortal," Odin warned, standing powerfully and intimidating. Clint struggled to his feet even as he coughed out a laugh.

"You are such a hypocrite. Loki is tormented for his use of magic. Told he is useless, a coward, a cheat. But you use magic and are revered. Not just you, but Queen Frigga as well! Why do you not see the hypocrisy?" Clint snapped, straightening to glare at Odin. Again, Odin flicked his wrist. Clint found himself tossed to the other side of the room. This time, his head cracked on a shelf and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"CLINT!" Loki cried, rushing to check on the archer. Seeing Clint was still at least alive, Loki turned to Odin. The All-Father regally and powerfully glared back. "How dare you."

"Loki, do not tempt me. Curb your mortal's tongue or he will not last," Odin snipped, spinning on his heel and storming out. Loki sighed. He highly doubted that all this was the reason Odin had come to visit. There had to have been another matter. But it was too late to deal with now.

"Clint," Loki mumbled, doing a better look see of Clint's head and back. Thankfully, for how forceful the attacks looked, Clint did not seem hurt. Just unconscious with a rather large bruise forming on the back of his head. And there was likely to be some decent sized bruising along his back. Loki tried to force any type of healing magic into the archer, forgetting once again that Odin had taken it. Of course, nothing happened. "Curse the Norns."

* * *

It took close to a week to get the old, partly destroyed ship to work. Tony and Bruce spent countless nights working to make sure it was safe. Heimdall was thankfully able to find a few shipbuilders who were more than willing to help. Steve used the time to get supplies for his five person team. Thor had agreed to stay behind for the betterment of Asgard and watching over the bodies of Loki and Clint. As the ship was being built, Bucky and Wanda slowly put things in their place so that once it was complete, everything would be all set.

"You certain this will fly?" Bucky asked for seemingly the thirtieth time. Tony bristled but refused to rise to the bate anymore. Steve on the other hand.

"Bucky," the Captain warned. Bucky frowned at him but stopped.

"I know, it still looks like a pile of trash but... Not all of this is going," Tony explained, waving his hands to the rubbish.

"If I may, how exactly?" Strange wondered as the group headed into the area at a snails pace.

"The, I guess, cockpit wasn't damaged too bad. We ended up using extra pieces to seal it off and create a kinda bunk room. Trust me, it'll be fine," Tony tried to explain.

"So if we lose air pressure it's the Asgardians' fault?" Natasha muttered. Tony shook his head.

"You won't," the genius defended. Deciding not to argue it anymore, Tony spun on his heel and led the group through the wreckage faster. As they passed they noticed a clearing with a separated area for a more completed looking area. Similar to the size of a quinjet and designed (badly) like one as well, Tony led them all up the open back hatch. As they walked through, Tony gave them a tour. Mainly, the bunk area, a table and kitchen like area and then the main cockpit.

"I have noticed a small fault in out plan," Wanda stated at the end of the tour. Everyone looked to her. "Do any of us have any idea how to fly a spaceship?"

"Ah, FRIDAY is installed on the controls. She's a separate system attached to the ship and the Asgardian tech so I can't communicate with you, but she'll follow your lead," Tony called, jumping toward the cockpit.

"Welcome Rescue Team," FRIDAY greeted as a holoscreen covered the glass visor. Bucky glanced over at Steve and mouthed the name in confusion. Steve shrugged, more used to Tony's need to name things ridiculous names. This was rather tame considering what it could have been. "I have analyzed all space data from the Asgardians with known space sections from NASA. I am confident I can safely lead us to our destination."

"We don't even know what that is," Bucky pointed out. FRIDAY's holoscreen shifted to show a vast expanse of space. Strange stepped forward, focusing on the map. Slowly he pointed to a spot. Without prompting, FRIDAY zoomed in on that section. Strange focused again. Pointing to the other side, FRIDAY shifted that way. This happened twice more before Strange was able to point to an actual planet.

"Vormir. The sixth planet in the Helgentar system, home to the Vorms. It is a mostly desolate planet," FRIDAY reported.

"Wow," Wanda murmured, moving closer to see the screen. Strange glanced at her for a moment. He understood quickly that she wanted to learn what he had done.

"Focus. Use your experience with the stone on Vision," he couched. She closed her eyes, red smoke appearing on her hands. Then her eyes snapped open.

"Oh," she called. Steve stepped forward, his eyes determined. They had a plan in place, supplies ready on the ship, FRIDAY to fly and a destination.

"Ok. Let's go."

* * *

 **Yay, another chapter! Hope everyone is enjoying this!**

 **So, I've currently been reworking this series from _After Loki_ and beyond. Making everything mix into each other much better than I have been having it. I actually just reached the beginning of this story in my editing. ^_^ I'm likely not going to post the changes I make in this version but I will in the rewritten version. Can't wait for you all to read the upcoming stories! So excited for one in particular that I'm constantly rewriting cause it doesn't feel completely done yet. But, we are all nearing completion on this series.**

 **Darius is doing great. Got a pretty bad cough going on right now but I am of the belief that it has to do with his runny nose. He loves making a mess around the house and not cleaning it but I've started punishing him a bit for it and so it seemed to be working better. But dear lord this kid does not seem to understand the idea of indoor voice. No matter how hard we try. I know... Too young to realize but ugh... Pain in the butt! Baby Jason is spitting up a lot of his formula lately but the spit up isn't that bad. Just a little bit each time. Bunch of other things going on that isn't all that good to mention but yeah... Thankfully not much of it involves me.**

 **But, no matter. Chapter posted! Can't wait for you to read the rest. And I don't know when I'm gonna post the rewritten versions... Might just do a gigantic post of each story... But... I also wanna post it on Archive... I'll figure it out. Anyways, ENJOY!**


	21. Magic

Chapter 21 - Magic

Clint woke an hour later with a raging headache. Groaning, he opened his eyes and looked about. He had moved rooms. Loki must have shifted the archer to the bed to allow Clint to rest better. Slowly, he sat up. His head protested but not enough to stop him. Loki was no where in sight so Clint became curious. Carefully, he got to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Loki called, coming into the room with a tray of food and drink. Clint jerked up, spinning to see the trickster. In doing so, Clint lost his balance and fell back onto the floor with a pained cry. Loki snorted. "That was stupid."

"Your fault," Clint grunted, getting back up to glare at Loki from over the bed. Loki shook his head in humor.

"Good to see you are awake though," Loki replied, moving to put the tray on his desk. Clint frowned, trying to remember exactly what happened. He remembered Frigga and Baldr leaving. Odin coming in. But he couldn't clearly recall what had been said. "I had feared Odin had caused internal damage."

"What?" Clint called, confused. Loki turned to focus on him. Critically looking the archer over, Loki realized the memories must have been knocked out of his head.

"Odin used magic to toss you into a bookcase. You fell unconscious," Loki explained. As he did, Clint's mind seemed to clear and he remembered. A blush slowly formed on Clint's face as he focused on Loki. The archer hadn't meant to get so verbally violent with Odin. Loki simply gave Clint a soft smile. "No one has ever tried to defend me. Especially to Odin."

"What I said holds true. It's bullshit," Clint muttered, not all that repentant over what was said, just more how it was said. Loki nodded. It was bullshit but nothing could change what actually happened. Clint gave out a bit more grumbling over it all before Loki grabbed Clint's arm. The archer tensed but otherwise didn't react.

"Come, eat," Loki pressed, moving Clint toward the desk with the food. Clint slowly followed, a frown forming on his face but mostly unable to stop himself. With a quick look over everything, Clint wondered what to actually do. Loki sighed. "None of it is poisoned."

"Makes me feel so much better," Clint snorted before grabbing what looked to be a fruit.

"It's safe," Loki told him. Clint hummed before trying it. Sweat juice burst into his mouth as he tried it. Savoring it for another second, Clint then devoured the whole thing. Loki snorted as Clint began working at the rest with renewed vigor.

After Clint finished his meal, Loki decided he should show Clint around Asgard. It wasn't important to anything in the memory but, neither thought hiding in Loki's room would solve anything. Frigga and Baldr also hadn't returned but, taking some time away wouldn't hurt.

"This is Thor's favorite drinking hole after an adventure," Loki pointed out after showing much of Asgard to the archer. Clint glanced at the rather packed building. Distantly he could make out Thor's rumbling voice inside. Moving away, Clint glanced at Loki.

"No offense but, I keep hearing Thor goes here, Thor enjoys this. What about you?" Clint asked. Loki stilled. He hadn't ever really thought about his frequent haunts. Slowly he looked back to the palace. "You spend all your time there?"

"In my rooms. The library, Mother's garden," Loki quickly listed. Things that they had hit first. Clint sighed. Apparently Loki was as socially stunted as Clint first thought. Loki then perked up. "I have a spot to show you."

Slowly, Clint followed Loki down a variety of streets until he saw a gigantic archway. But what really took precedence was the large, brilliant, ever changing color bridge. Clint stumbled to a stop.

"Thor did not do this justice," the archer gasped. Loki smiled, stopping to look back at Clint.

"And this isn't even what I want to show you," the trickster announced. Clint's eyes flicked to Loki in surprise. "Come."

Carefully, Clint followed Loki out onto the bridge. The archer spent the first minute of the walk just staring at the color changes under their feet. Each step had a white halo appear around their feet. But after that minute, Clint was focused on the sea and skyline that expanded past the bridge on either side. It took a frighteningly short amount of time before they reached the gigantic golden dome at the end of the bridge. A monster of a man stood on a raised platform, a sward tip down in front of his legs.

"Heimdall," Loki greeted without the guardian even turning.

"Prince Loki. Clint Barton," Heimdall replied. Clint stilled. No one had said his name and he had never been introduced to this man. How did this Asgardian know?

"Heimdall has impeccable vision. He sees all," Loki simplified. Clint frowned, moving to get in front of Heimdall. The guardian's golden eyes flicked toward the archer.

"You have impeccable aim for a Midgardian," Heimdall pointed out. Clint could only nod. Loki smiled, moving to the open end of the dome that looked to the stars. Clint glanced at him before looking back to Heimdall. The guardian quirked a lip before nodding his head in consent. Slowly, Clint headed over. He focused on Loki.

"Look," Loki said. Sighing, Clint turned and looked out. At first, all he saw was the blackened sky with twinkling stars. Loki glanced at the archer. "Focus on Earth."

"What?" Clint called, turning to look at Loki. This sounded very odd to be doing. And possibly even dangerous. Loki chuckled at the archer's skepticism.

"Think of Earth and look out," Loki told the archer. If the Lie-smith was right, Clint would be one of less than a handful to have a very unique talent. A talent that thankfully wasn't part of his magical abilities.

"Loki," Heimdall warned. He had seen conversation over Clint's magic before. This was skirting the line, even if it was just pure talent. If Clint did it wrong, he may accidentally open himself to be a magic user.

"Just an experiment. No harm," Loki soothed. Clint frowned. This didn't sound like a good thing. He stepped back, glancing at Heimdall again. The guardian sighed and nodded back to the stars. Huffing a breath out, Clint moved back to look out again. With a deeper frown, he focused. After a moment, the space seemed to rush at him, similar to the hyperspace tunnel in _Star Wars_. Then he saw what could only be ancient Greece. Shocked, Clint lost focus and stumbled back.

"What... What the hell?" Clint stuttered, glancing to Loki. The trickster looked smug. His theory had been proven correct. Behind them, Heimdall stepped off the platform and moved to stand beside Clint. "What the hell was that?"

"What did you see?" Heimdall questioned, curious now as well. Clint turned to look at the guardian before his eyes shifted back to the expanse beyond.

"I... I think Greece," Clint muttered. Heimdall frowned, looking out himself.

"Look again," Heimdall ordered. Clint shuddered. He wasn't sure he wanted to do it again. Carefully, the archer looked. "What do you see?"

"A... A war," Clint reported, his voice soft and pained. Loki frowned. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "I… I think it's the Trojan war."

"Trojan?" Heimdall questioned. He didn't often let his gaze wander to Midgard so he didn't know much of what was happening. Clint yet again stumbled back, blinking rapidly. Loki shifted, holding the archer up as Clint nearly fell to the floor. Yes, this was a bad idea. Midgardians should not have this amount of talent.

"Troy vs like, all of Greece," Clint gasped. His head was beginning to hurt. Heimdall hummed, backing away himself to look at Clint. The guardian's eyes flicked to Loki who looked slightly ashamed over what he had done. "Jesus... What was that?"

"You have Farsight?" Heimdall asked. Clint looked up to the Asgardian, shifting away from Loki. The trickster couldn't stop a pleased smile from forming. While it was dangerous for making Clint do what he did, Loki needed to be certain.

"What?"

"Farsight, the ability to see the Realms beyond Asgard," Heimdall explained. Clint shifted further away from the duo and the open area beyond. He glanced at Loki, surprised.

"What?" he couldn't help but squeak.

"Only the All-Father and I have been able to see far beyond the Realm of Asgard," Heimdall added. Clint jerked back as if shocked. It was starting to come together.

"No," he whispered. Loki stepped forward. This was a big mistake. No matter how curious the trickster was, he shouldn't have betrayed the newly formed trust he had gotten.

"Clint," Loki tried to soothe. Clint stepped away, looking at Loki with betrayed eyes. Instantly, Loki knew that Clint understood he had used magic to see. Loki winced.

"What did you do?" the archer basically sobbed. Loki glanced away.

"He helped you tap into a minuscule amount of your magic, that controls special talents, to use Farsight. Your magic is very powerful," Heimdall explained. Clint winced this time. Fearful, Loki moved to grab Clint and hold him in place. He needed to explain.

"Clint," the Lie-smith mumbled. Clint jerked back away from Loki. The archer shook his head.

"No... No this... It's a trick," Clint called, focusing on Loki. The trickster jerked as if slapped. Heimdall looked between the duo.

"You were not aware of your magic?" the guardian wondered. Clint moved away from them, his face horrified. Yes, he had known about the magic residing in him but he had figured that was from Loki. There was no way he had any before the trickster came to Earth.

"I'm... Aware. But, I… I couldn't of," Clint basically begged. Heimdall looked to Loki with a slightly angered gaze. Loki just looked sad now. He should have explained.

"Clint-" Loki started.

"NO! No! You... You did something," Clint cried, horrified tears slowly starting to form. "I can't use magic."

"You can. You always did. I hadn't realized this before but it's what drew me to you. I had a difficult time working the Scepter. Your magic helped protect you from my first misguided attempt to use it," Loki informed. Clint couldn't stop the horrified sob that escaped him. "I chose you because you were important. You could help me. But, I chose you first because you could handle the excess force I accidentally used."

"You're lying," Clint accused. Heimdall stepped back, looking between the two. There was some sort of history between them that the guardian was not aware of. And that bother him greatly. "I didn't have magic before you!"

"That's why I had to give you free reign. You were too strong to be tethered," Loki continued as if Clint hadn't spoken. Clint snapped. He rushed Loki, drawing back to do a powerful right hook. Loki either didn't see it coming or decided Clint needed this cause Clint's fist connected. To all of their surprise, Loki actually stumbled sideways with the force. Before he could recover, Clint stumbled back and then turned tail and ran. "CLINT!"

* * *

 **Yay! Another chapter! And on time within a week! Whoot Whoot! This is a little shorter than I thought it was... Sorry. Didn't mean for that to happen. Thought I had done around the same amount of words for each chapter... Anyways.**

 **I have edited all the stories to flow better (so if you read something here that mentions something from before and you don't remember, that's why). Considering how often people report stories for being copies and as the beginning stories are on my other account, I am posting them over on Archive of Our Own. I know a lot of you don't really have accounts over there but you can still go over and read the changes. Most of the changes are done to the beginning stories, but I feel it works much better now.**

 **Darius...… Is being Darius. He's at the point where we could do potty training but he just seems to refuse to do it. Ugh, I'm trying different techniques but... My mother in law is planning on doing this three day training technique that she read about and seemed to work well with Clint before. She's done a few days cause we haven't had a three day weekend for her to do it correctly and now Darius seems to want to do it for her but... Lies to me about it. In fact, just this morning I asked him three times if he did and I was pretty certain he did but I decided to 'believe' him. But once hubby came down, Darius walked right up to him and went 'Daddy, I went poop, come change me.' Too bad hubby didn't have enough time to do so as he needed to go to work. So I ended up doing it. Baby Jason seems to like sleeping mostly during the day and... Well, I don't think his parents understand the concept of keeping him awake during the day so he'll sleep at night. Hubby and I have mentioned it a few times but... Yeah... I pray, for their sake, that it fixes itself on it's own.**

 **And that's it. Hope you are still enjoying and can't wait to post next week!**


	22. Mistake and Explanation

CHAPTER 22 - Mistake and Explanation

The engines roared to life as the spaceship prepared to leave. Tony let out a shocked cry before rushing to get off the ship he never intended to travel on. Steve froze, eyes widening in surprise at this. He had only said his normal statement. Natasha spun, moving to follow Tony as Strange and Wanda moved to the holoscreen to see if they could do anything.

"FRIDAY! PAUSE! STOP!" Bucky shouted, running toward the exit in an effort to help Tony escape. While he and Tony did not get along, Bucky knew that Tony wasn't mentally sane enough for this mission. For the best for everyone, the genius needed off the ship.

"FRIDAY!" Steve cried, desperately after. He looked back and forth, unsure where he would most be helpful. Before he could move, the back hatch closed and there was a jolt.

"I'm sorry Captain, but I cannot stop now," the AI morosely reported. Tony let out a horrible keening noise as he dropped onto the ground by the exit. Natasha moved to curl up next to him. Bruce had made mentioned to her about Tony's untreated PTSD. A lot of it revolved around being sent to space again, but this time without his suit. And everyone knew, Tony's suit was not on the ship. This was not going to be good. Bucky turned to look at Steve, his eyes showing sympathetic saddened anger. Steve turned to stare at Tony who was very clearly in the midst of a rather large panic attack.

"Tony," Steve called, his voice weak even to his ears. This shouldn't have happened.

"Don't," Wanda muttered, moving to stand next to Steve. He looked at her. Wanda's eyes held extreme anger. "Just, don't."

"Good thing supplies were packed," Strange mumbled, a harsh glare at Steve. The captain winced.

"It's… It's just a phrase," Steve whispered, unable to come up with anything else to say. Everyone was pissed off with him.

"FRIDAY, are we still in Earth orbit?" Natasha wondered, hoping they could easily turn around to drop Tony back off. Tony let out a sob, trying to come back from the attack. He knew he wasn't alone this time. He knew there was air. He was safe in the ship. But his panic refused to subside.

"We are currently passing through the asteroid belt," FRIDAY replied. Everyone looked up to the holo screen in surprise. There was no way they had gotten that far in what was maybe five minutes.

"What?" Tony croaked, his scientific mind over coming his panic for a moment.

"We have now passed the belt and will pass Jupiter in three... Two... One," FRIDAY answered. Everyone focused out the view screen past FRIDAY's holo image to see a flash of orange. "Saturn in three... Two... One."

"Holy hell," Bucky cussed. He may not know much about space travel but that sounded far to fast. Steve even had his mouth open in shock. Wanda's eyes were wide in surprise.

"That is fast," Strange agreed.

"Uranus. Now Neptune in two... one," FRIDAY continued.

"Stop," Tony groaned. FRIDAY silenced. "Oh god."

"Tony, breath. In... Out..." Natasha quickly coached as Tony rapidly spiraled into panic again. Wanda rushed forward. Tony's heart wasn't going to take much more of this. She placed her hands on either side of the genius's head and a red mist came out. A second later, Tony slumped into Natasha unconscious.

"He's sleeping," Wanda reported, sensing everyone's concern.

"Thanks," Natasha sighed. Bucky moved closer, carefully lifting the genius up. Slowly he brought the genius to the bunk room. He passed Steve as he did but refused to even look at his friend. Steve winced again. There was no way anyone would let him forget this mistake. If he hadn't already know how much he messed up, that was a clear sign.

"FRIDAY, is there anyway we can turn back around to drop Tony back off?" Strange wondered, focusing on the AI over everything else that was happening.

"I again apologize. If we turn back now, we will not have enough fuel to get to Vormir and back to Earth," FRIDAY replied, her voice sounding as upset as an AI could get. Strange sighed and turned to snap a glare at Steve again. Steve winced and watched as slowly everyone headed into the bunk room to watch over Tony.

"It's just a phrase," Steve couldn't help but call, his voice soft and hardly loud enough for anyone to hear.

It took nearly an hour before anyone attempted to come back and soothe Steve. By the time they did, Steve was wallowing in so much guilt that he'd likely be ready to kill himself if he wasn't on a mission. The atmosphere in the ship was tense and angered which made Steve much worse. Of anyone in the group coming to check on Steve, it surprisingly was Strange who came .

"Anyone could have made the same mistake," Strange said, his voice leaking an apologetic tone. Steve let out a pathetic snort.

"But _I_ did it," he called back. Strange nodded, guilt now slowly forming in him for his part in making Steve so depressed. Maybe they shouldn't have given him so much trouble over it.

"We didn't know FRIDAY would respond to that," Strange tried. Steve shook his head. He had spent more time with FRIDAY then Strange ever did. Well, an AI like FRIDAY. JARVIS likely would have asked before following through but FRIDAY is still 'young'.

"I should have waited. Made sure that Tony had left. I can't believe I did that," Steve mumbled, his hands grabbing harshly at his hair. Strange sighed deeply. There wasn't much that could really be said anymore. It was unfair that it happened. But even more unfair to have blamed Steve like they all did. They could try to blame FRIDAY but she was an AI. A computer program. A piece of technology that was built to follow orders. Slowly, Strange got up and headed toward the holo screen. Maybe he could figure out an easier path to Vormir than FRIDAY was following.

"Tony will forgive you," Wanda reported, sneaking up on Steve. Strange glanced back before focusing back on the screen. Steve scoffed.

"No, he won't. God, I messed up," Steve mumbled. Wanda paused, looking him over more. She winced when she realized how guilty and upset Steve was. They were all being really rude.

"The world doesn't have to rest on your shoulders," she pointed out. Steve gave her a small smile. It didn't show the amount of emotion that Wanda had wanted it to. She sighed. "We'll get through this. We always do."

"Tony's waking," Bucky called coming out of the bunk room. Steve tensed even as Wanda nodded and slowly headed over there. Bucky glanced over to Strange. He nodded and headed into the bunk room as well. There certainly wasn't going to be much private areas on this ship. As soon as Strange and Wanda disappeared into the bunk room, Bucky focused on Steve. The Captain sighed, not even looking up at his long time friend.

"Gonna tell me it's okay?" Steve grumbled, unable to stop himself. Bucky snorted.

"No. Nothing I or any of us say will change your mind now," Bucky retorted, his voice soft and snide. Steve looked up at him. Huffing out a breath, Bucky moved to sit next to the Captain. With a sigh himself, Steve looked away. "Look. It sucks. Tony didn't wanna come but now he is. Not much any of us can do about it. It's gonna take a while before any of us feel comfortable after this. All we can do is deal with it."

"Thanks," Steve said after a minute of thinking over what Bucky told him. It was honestly refreshing to not get platitudes of apologies. Bucky snorted and clapped his metal hand onto Steve's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go check on Tony."

"What has my son done now?" Frigga called, meandering closer to a tree set in the middle of her garden. Clint glanced down at her. He had thought he had hidden himself well enough for her not to see him. Numerous guards had passed and no one had seen him then. Then her question floated through his mind. He snorted, unwilling to get Loki in trouble. Even if this was a fake world of the trickster's memory. Frigga sighed before sitting on a rock at the base of the tree. The same rock Clint used to get to one of the higher branches. "Loki has always used action before explanation. One of the more difficult traits of his. Typically, these actions cause chaos."

"That why he's the god of chaos and lies?" Clint asked. Frigga smiled, not even attempting to look up at the archer.

"I am the Goddess of Foresight and Wisdom. Yet, I cannot stop events from happening. Thor is the God of Thunder but often times he uses lightning more," Frigga pointed out. Clint focused on her. He had always wondered about that. "We aren't always names as we should be. The strangest does have to be Loki."

"Oh?"

"He's also the God of Fire." Clint barked out a laugh, thinking of the irony. Yes, he had done lots of research into Nordic mythology but he hadn't focused that much on Loki's abilities. Especially seeing as it didn't often mention it.

"Seriously?" Frigga nodded, a soft smile on her face. "But isn't he-"

"Yes. Often times we are named by our talents but we can also be named by how others perceive us. Loki never truly means to cause chaos. It just happens around him. He then will use his Silver-tongue to twist the events around to be more of a trick or prank," Frigga explained. Clint sighed, looking back up. From the height he had sat himself at, he could see the distant Rainbow Bridge and the atrium Heimdall was stationed in.

"Doubt he'd say what happened was a trick. Heimdall seemed impressed," Clint scoffed. Frigga couldn't help but look up at the archer.

"Loki brought you to Heimdall?" she questioned. Clint nodded, his mouth setting into a straight line.

"Wanted to test some sort of theory. Made me look out and... I saw Earth," Clint muttered, his eyes turning away from the bridge but now down to Frigga. Frigga's eyes widened in surprise.

"You have Farsight?" she inquired. Clint then looked down to her.

"Heimdall said the same thing. What is that?"

"The ability to see beyond. See through the space between Realms," Frigga explained. Clint frowned, thinking about his own life. While he never had been able to do what he just did, there was something.

"I... I've always said I see better from a distance," the archer muttered. Frigga nodded, shifting on the rock to better view the archer.

"Farsight does have some disadvantages. It is often times not helpful when dealing with friends, family or things happening closer to you. But, you can focus on the bigger picture. When you step back, things become clearer," Frigga described. Clint pursed his lips. That sounded right. A lot like his experience so far. He hadn't realized that he'd been using 'magic' before. Could Loki have been right? "I was not aware Midgardians could ever tap into that power."

"Heimdall said only he and Odin could do it. Is that true?"

"As of this moment, yet. Heimdall came upon it naturally. Odin's Farsight will be passed down to the one that next gets the throne."

"You mean Thor?" Clint wondered. Frigga sighed, turning away from Clint.

"I'm guessing the future of Asgard is much different than my husband could ever see," Frigga called. Clint winced. He hadn't meant to say anything like that. But then again, Frigga did say she had visions of the future.

"Thor and Loki were coming to Earth with maybe a couple hundred or so Asgardians," Clint muttered, unable to really stop himself from saying it. He turned away, again looking out over the bridge. Frigga turned to look at him.

"Asgard lies with her people. Not this Realm we inhabit," she replied. Clint nodded. "I had thought before only Thor and Loki remained."

"No... I, uh. Didn't met any of them before I..." Clint stumbled, still unsure what exactly happened. Was he dead? Did Hela just remove his soul and so his body was still alive? Did the others destroy his body? How would he get back?

"You did not die. Your soul was simply removed," Frigga replied as if knowing exactly what Clint thought. The archer winced.

"Doesn't really sound much better."

"Indeed, it does not. But, if you died, you would be unable to return at all. Soul removal keeps the body alive, for a short amount of time."

"Doubt my friends would know that. Probably buried or burned my body," Clint scoffed. Natasha, he knew, would cremate his body, as per his own request. Steve and Tony would likely argue for burial. Laura would side with Natasha and the rest... Who knows what they'd chose.

"You still do funeral pyres?" Frigga questioned. Clint frowned, thinking over what he had said.

"No. Uh it's called cremation. The body is burned on a medal slab till it becomes ash and the ash is given to the loved ones to be kept in a urn somewhere or buried in the same area as their own loved one," Clint explained, not entirely sure that made any sense. Frigga's mouth quirk in sadness.

"Spreading the ash to the ground, sea or air is a much more thoughtful honor." Clint chuckled.

"Some people ask for that but... It was overall deemed unhygienic or something. A bunch of places will ban you if you tried."

"Midgardians are very strange," Frigga stated making Clint laugh. There was no argument there.

"Yeah. Guess we are."

"Mother!" Loki's voice cried from beyond them. Frigga turned that way as Clint hunched himself further into the shadows of the tree. He really wasn't ready to deal with Loki right now.

"Yes, my son?" she asked once Loki drew close enough. The trickster looked harried and worried. Clint frowned, keeping himself hidden.

"Have you seen Clint?" Loki wondered. Frigga raised an eyebrow in question. Loki sighed, his shoulders dropped as he seemed to fold into himself. "I fear I have ruined our relations."

"Loki," Frigga chided. Loki winced, recognizing her tone.

"When I met him before, Clint had an impressive knowledge of things happening in the distance. At the time, I did not realize that I noticed the untapped magic within him and I... Well, I became curious," Loki muttered, ashamed of his actions. He should have told Clint what he wanted to do. Should have mentioned his theories rather than just acting on them.

"You made him use his talent against his knowledge?" Frigga replied, her voice soft but dangerous. Yes, Clint had said as much to her but she needed to make a point to her son. Loki looked away, like a child being scolded. Clint shifted in the tree, worried now. "You had no right."

"I know, mother."

"You are very lucky Farsight does not require his magic nor will it bring it forth," Frigga scolded, making it perfectly clear how close Loki had come to creating bigger issues for the archer. Clint winced now. He hadn't really thought much over the fact that he used magic and what problems that may cause in the future. He just didn't like the thought that he had any magic. Loki nodded before pausing. Slowly, he looked back up at her, his eyes hard and suspicious.

"I never said what he did," the Lie-smith muttered. Frigga's eyes narrowed but she refused to admit that she had made an error. Loki looked around for a moment before his eyes drifted up. Still hidden mostly in shadow, Clint glared back down at him. Loki couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him as soon as he spotted the archer.

"You have much to apologize for. I doubt he enjoyed the knowledge you gave him," Frigga warned. Loki focused on her again. "He's had too many issues revolving around magic. Learning that he is a very powerful and untrained wielder will be hard."

"I know. His friend, Wanda, had mentioned as much," Loki whispered as Clint glanced at Frigga. He had heard that he was powerful or strong but he never truly focused on the idea. If even Frigga, a well known powerful wielder herself, claimed he was powerful... Well that was really scary idea. Just as scary as finding out he had magic before Loki came into his life.

"I've only seen magic used for personal gain or enjoyment. It hasn't always been butterflies and kisses," Clint called down, shifting to do an acrobatic jump off the branch he sat on. He used the height to flip once before making a perfect landing on the path before Loki. Both Loki and Frigga looked impressed. "Magic has only been helpful to counteract against the bad, after the fact."

"Magic is so much more than what you have witnessed," Loki responded. Clint shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I wanna learn it," the archer stated. Loki sighed as Frigga stood up. She placed a hand on Clint's shoulder making both men turn to her.

"I fear you may not have a choice in that soon," Frigga murmured, her gaze distant.

"What?" the duo asked in near unison. Frigga shook her head, her sight returning to the two.

"I cannot clearly see it all, as this in not the correct timeline. But, I sense it will be needed," Frigga replied.

* * *

 **So, another chapter down. I can't remember if I posted this last chapter but, my Archive of Our Own account currently has the edited version of After Loki being posted there. Not fully sure how much changed, I know a lot of little details. So, if you liked After Loki (or my writing) go on over there and check it out.**

 **Darius is doing good. Been a bit annoying the past few days but I think it might be because my hubby and I have like no patience for his normal antics. I don't think he really realized that he missed out on Trick or Treating due to the rain, so... At least we ca use his costume for the con. I got most of our stuff packed and ready to go, including his costumes. But, hubby and I kinda don't want him staying all weekend. We know we can't skip having him go tonight but hopefully father-in-law can get Darius on Saturday. We'll see. Baby Jason is doing good. Don't really like the pediatrician that his parents have, and neither are they. The person keeps suggesting things that other pediatricians have said not to do. It worry some that this person does this as there are likely a lot of first time parents with no one around who recently had a child. I doubt that anything is truly harmful that is suggested but... A lot of it just worries me and makes no sense for Jason's current age.**

 **And that's it. Oh, if you happen to be going to Rhode Island Comic Con, I have a booth and am selling my book, _Project New World._ Feel free to stop on by!**


	23. Showing Off

CHAPTER 23 - Showing Off

"I'm fine. I'm fine," Tony chanted, waving the others away from him. Knowing he wasn't alone was certainly helping him but there was still the issue of his suit not being there or anyway of getting it. Especially when the group intends to at one point go up against a very powerful magic user. At this point, no one was sure if Tony was trying to convince himself or the others. Thankfully no one pointed it out. "Okay. I'm in a pressurized space ship. Totally not alone. It's okay. I'm fine."

"We're here for you. We won't let anything happen," Wanda soothed, placing a hand on Tony's lap. Tony jumped at the contact but didn't pull away. He just continued his chant in a much softer volume. Steve winced, slipping out of the bunk room. There was no way he could stay and watch this. If only he hadn't spoken. As the Captain left, Bucky turned and followed him out.

"Hey," the soldier muttered as Steve headed to the holoscreen as if it held any answers on how to fix this mistake. Sighing at Bucky's call, Steve looked to the ground. Bucky's mouth set into a firm line. This wasn't gonna go well.

"I... I can't," Steve mumbled. Bucky groaned. While his memories are still clearing, Bucky could remember how stubborn Steve was in his guilty conscious.

"We're already dealing with one guy panicking. We shouldn't need to worry bout you too, punk," Bucky called, his voice sounding much more sarcastic and joking than the words seemed. Steve snorted. Bucky used to talk to him like this. It was the only way the man seemed to know how to bother Steve. The Captain always hated disappointing people and if they were already dealing with one issue, Steve never liked adding his own. But Steve couldn't bring himself to respond to Bucky in kind. That made Bucky frown and move to stand next to his friend. "Steve?"

"Honestly Buck. I don't know if I can do this," Steve grumbled, really not in the mood to try and fix things. Bucky jerked back as if Steve had slapped him across the face. Steve sounded like he was giving up. And that wasn't like Steve at all. "First the whole Insight issue, then you, the Accords, all the fights. Now this. I'm... I'm tired."

"Hey. We all are. It gets too much sometimes. But we get it. No need to blame yourself," Bucky told the Captain, refusing to believe that Steve was trying to quit now. Steve shook his head and that's when Bucky really got what was happening. He should have checked on Steve much earlier. It was unfair how they dealt with the situation. "God, Stevie. The world's problems are not only on you."

"No. I had Wanda in Lagos. She sent Crossbones away to protect me. And I spent a lot of time and energy trying to find you that, a lot got put aside. Most of all, my relationship with Tony. Then, Germany..."

"Hey, Wanda was also saving hundreds on the ground. Also, no offense Stevie, but I spent a good deal of time and effort to stay away from you. Germany... Everyone agreed to help us there. Don't put their choice on you," Bucky listed. Steve winced. His friend had a point. Still didn't make him feel any better, but he could see what Bucky meant. "Tony will get over this."

"He shouldn't have had too. He told us he didn't want to come," Steve cried, his voice hard and full of such guilt that Bucky sighed. It was getting harder and harder to convince Steve to just calm down.

"But I am here," Tony's voice responded, a slight shake to it. Bucky and Steve jerked around to see Tony standing near the doorway. Natasha, Wanda and Strange stood just behind the genius. Natasha and Wanda at least looked somewhat guilty and saddened by what they were seeing. Strange seemed mostly indifferent. "I'm... I'm getting better. Give me another ten minutes and I should be fine."

"Tony," Steve started but stopped when Tony raised a hand.

"Honestly Steve, I get it. FRIDAY is still learning and she heard an order. Not much could have been done about that," Tony stated, a dismissive hand wave. Slowly he moved to get to the holoscreen. Steve stepped back to watch the genius. There was no way that Tony forgave him that quickly. Not after everything they've been through. "Well. At least we're making good time."

"Tony," Steve tried again but Tony shook his head, looking over to the Captain.

"Cap, we've all made mistakes lately. No point focusing on it," Tony dismissed and Steve could tell it wasn't just about the panic attack. Tony's eyes shifted to Bucky quick before focusing on Steve. It made the Captain sigh. Apparently Tony wasn't just forgiving him. The genius was finally trying to forgive Bucky. "So, how do we get this stone?"

* * *

"So. Farsight," Clint stated as he and Loki walked out of Frigga's garden. Loki was intent on showing Clint the better side of magic. But the archer's statement had the Lie-smith sigh.

"I remembered when using the Tesseract, I heard a voice. 'Doors open from both sides,'" Loki quoted, slightly changing the subject a bit. Clint nodded. He remembered stating that there was no activity on their end and Fury being confused. It made clear sense to him then, so why hadn't anyone else think of it? Especially seeing as he was surrounded by scientists who had spent a great deal of time watching over the Tesseract.

"Selvig couldn't understand the massive power surge. They thought the Tesseract was just acting up. Not that there had been another source using it. I just figured, cause there was nothing bothering it on our side, that basically the 'other door' was being opened," Clint replied. Loki smirked. Clint was so much smarter than many people realized.

"While your Farsight was not fully used at that moment to be honest. Just natural intuition and tactical thought. But, I fear you don't often give yourself much credit," Loki pointed out. Clint shrugged not really interested in Loki adding to Clint's well supported group of people saying he shouldn't give himself such a hard time.

"Just a guy with a bow and arrow," Clint muttered with a shrug of his shoulders. Loki snorted, stopping to stare at Clint. After a few more steps, Clint stopped as well. He turned to look at the trickster to see leveling a disbelieving look at him.

"Do you realize that without even knowing me, you figured out I was being controlled? That you made the plan on the Helicarrier so as to not kill everyone needlessly? You gave me the clues to upset all the others so that the Avengers actually formed?" Loki questioned. Clint stilled. "I have also cast my image on your world in secret. Many a plan has been made by you. From up high, you notice patterns, protect over four other team members, all of which are in various areas on a large battlefield. Not many can claim the same thing."

"Why do you care?" Clint wondered after a moment, his face contorting into confusion. Loki sighed deeply. There was no real good response to that. Especially given their history.

"I'm beginning to see a bit of myself in you," Loki admitted after a minute. Before Clint could respond to that, Loki walked off. It took a moment for Clint to catch up to him. Thankfully for Loki, Clint didn't bring up the conversation again. In silence, they walked through the palace with no real destination in mind. It wasn't till they passed by the archway to the training field that they were forced to stop.

"BROTHER!" Thor's voice boomed before the thunderer appeared in front of the duo. Loki shifted slightly to stand in front of Clint. The archer stated nothing about it and didn't try to move away. "We must spar."

"Thor, I will not spar with you at this time," Loki hissed. Thor looked ready to mock his brother for this when Clint slipped out of his spot behind Loki.

"I will," the archer offered. Both Thor and Loki turned to look at him. After a second, Thor burst out into laughter. Clint's eyes narrowed. It reminded him greatly of the first time Clint asked to spar with the thunderer. Thor had chuckled and mentioned that while Clint was a great distance fighter, being closer would be much harder. Clint certainly proved him wrong then and was totally ready to do it now. It was honestly true when he spoke with Frigga that he was good in hand to hand, but having fought Thor many times, Clint knew the thunderer's style. "I'm serious."

"Clint," Loki softly warned. While Loki knew Clint could hold his own in a fight, this was a dangerous duel. Thor wouldn't go as easy as he had done that long ago fight. In fact, Thor might even be harsher in an attempt to prove the archer was incompetent. Clint ignored the Lie-smith and just stared at Thor. Slowly, Thor's laughter died down.

"If you wish to die, I shall accept your challenge," Thor declared. Clint smirked before all three of them headed out to the field. The Warriors Three and Sif, who were in a small argument on the other side of the field, looked over. Fandral let out a pleased laugh.

"You have finally gotten him to agree!" the Asgardian called happily. Loki's eyes narrowed.

"Nay. Tis the Midgardian I will fight," Thor replied with a roll of his eyes. The group still in surprise as a few nearby Asgardians looked over and began to spread the rumor around.

"Tis a joke?" Fandral wondered, looking between Thor and Clint.

"Loki, does your pet wish to die?" Sif inquired. Loki huffed but didn't reply. If he did, Loki was certain that Clint would be insulted. Rather than respond to her, Clint looked to Thor.

"Free weapon choice?" Clint asked, figuring Thor wouldn't be willing to do actual hand to hand with him. The god laughed very loudly at that. Clint's face shuttered into indifference but otherwise didn't react.

"You may take a weapon. I shall not," Thor agreed, his loud voice drawing more attention to the group. Loki sighed, watching Clint carefully. The archer's eyes narrowed a fraction, barely perceptible.

"Weapons on the battlefield for free use," Clint bargained, knowing full well that Thor was going to need a weapon. Again Thor laughed but as did a few of the surrounding Asgardians. While still laughing, Thor nodded his agreement. Clint glanced at Loki, now knowing the god had watched him for a while, Clint figured Loki would know what weapons he'd be likely to use. "Please choose some weapons." Then Clint turned to Sif. As a female warrior, one of few outside of the Valkeries that Thor spoke of, she would best know what the Asgardians would think was most challenging to face. "Can you also choose?"

"Aye," Sif replied, her eyes glinting in pleasure. Clint could easily tell that Sif wasn't going to choose lightly. She was going to make this as challenging as possible. He couldn't stop a smile from forming as both Asgardians headed over to the weapons lined up for use on the side of the field. Sif ended up choosing a ton of axes, clubs, and things that fit Thor's style in various shapes and sizes. Loki hesitated at the wall before selecting two of the most well crafted swords out and then gathering a large number of throwing knives, similar to ones he typically conjured in battle. Clint smirked and nodded his head to Loki when the trickster turned to see if these selections worked well. Slowly, the duo spread the weapons out onto the field.

"Are ye prepared to die?" Thor demanded, turning to face Clint. The archer looked over the battlefield, planning out his moves carefully. He nodded even as he mentally rolled his eyes at the last bit. Before Clint was fully ready, Thor lunged forward at him, intent on plowing his left shoulder into Clint's gut. Thankfully, Clint was fast on his feet. As Thor charged, Clint jerked to the right and ran past the thunderer before Thor could attempt to change his path. This led Clint near one of the two swords. He slid across the ground to pick it up before jumping to his feet and turning to face Thor, who was stumbling to a stop.

"Don't hurt yourself Midgardian," Fandral taunted. Clint ignored him, readying for Thor who looked to be sizing him up now. The thunderer's eyes focused on the sword before he quickly glanced over the field. Clint perfectly positioned himself behind one of the larger sized clubs that was laying between the two. Almost daring the Asgardian to grab it. Again, the thunderer charged, this time readying his right arm for a thunderous punch at Clint. The archer held his ground until Thor was mere steps away. Then he side stepped, swinging the sword in a graceful arch over Thor's now stretched out arm and lightly across the thunderer's cheek. Thor roared in surprise, stumbling past as he lost in balance. His call had more Asgardians turning to see what was happening. The crowd surrounding the field was at least three or four Asgardians deep now.

"Did the Midgardian draw first blood?" Volstagg wondered, looking to those standing beside him. Those words had more coming over. Loki smugly looked at Thor's friends. Thor spun, growling at Clint. The archer smirked.

"Coming?" Clint asked. Thor snarled before grabbing a rather larger sized axe that had been laying on the ground near him. Clint's smile widened. "Good, no more kid gloves."

"You have angered the wrong Asgardian," Thor snarled before rushing at Clint, swinging the axe wildly as he did. Clint tracked the axe's path before taking one step forward and swinging the sword once Thor had gotten close enough. The sword easily sliced through the axe's handle, the metal head flying off to land inches from Baldr, who had pushed through the crowd to watch. Baldr paused, looking at it before shifting back to the battle. Clint slipped past Thor, dancing back a few steps to stand near a knife. Thor spun, throwing the useless handle aside. He snatched another weapon. This time it was one of the larger clubs. Clint's eyes narrowed on it. There was no wood on this weapon. The handle and large balled head was all metal. With a mighty roar, Thor yet again charged. Clint slammed his foot onto the ground, bringing the knife flying into the air. The archer easily caught it before flinging it into Thor's dominant shoulder. Immediately, Thor dropped his club to grab at the injury. Clint rushed forward, stopping only inches away from Thor, the sword kissing Thor's throat. Silence reigned as everyone realized that Thor had just lost. Clint waited till Thor took a step back before he relaxed.

"You should try charging a bit less. Make your opponent come to you once in a while," Clint calmly suggested. Thor growled, not liking that a Midgardian was giving him fighting pointers. Before he could make a comment though, Hogun stepped forward.

"May I have a turn?" the Asgardian softly inquired. Clint turned to him. Thor had mentioned that Hogun was a very skilled sword-wielder. One of the best on all of Asgard. It would do wonders for Clint to face him in battle. Clint smiled.

"Sure." Thor huffed but left the field so Hogun could replace him. His path onto the field brought him to the other sword that laid on the ground. Clint smirked, dropping down into an odd position for a sword-wielder to start in. Left a lot of his body highly unprotected from an attack. Hogun nodded, understanding that Clint was ready. He held his sword straight in front of him, a very normal technique. (I DO NOT SWORD FIGHT! I COULD BE WRONG)

With an unspoken agreement, the duo rushed each other, stopping with a loud clash of metal. Their swords whipped through the air, moving so fact that it was hard to track where each went. They easily fell into a dance of swings and movement that no one could see gave advantage to one over the other. After a bit, Clint stumbled back a few steps, Hogun quickly moving to follow. As they backed up to the edge of the field, Clint suddenly blocked Hogun's attack, spun around the sword smith and slapped the back end of the sword onto the back of Hogun's knee. Hogun's leg studdered but the Asgardian did not fall and he was able to twist just in time to block Clint's 'killing' blow that came next. Clint quickly backed off, warily watching Hogun. They both stood there, staring at each other as they just rested a moment. Then they went at it again. Dancing around the field with neither seemed to have any advantage.

"Stop toying with him!" Baldr suddenly shouted out at the duo. A few Asgardians chuckled at his call. Clint quickly glanced at Baldr before blocking Hogun's next swing. The archer backed up another step and in a move similar to before, Clint got a knife tossed from the ground to his hand. When Hogun next swung at him, Clint instead leaned back and flipped away from Hogun, forcing the Asgardian to charge at him. Using the man's attack against him, Clint pushed hard against Hogun's sword, lifting it into the air before stepping in and pressing the tip of the knife to Hogun's chin. Both men stopped, breathing hard. Again, silence reigned over the field. After a moment, Hogun smiled, backing away from Clint and offering a free hand to shake. Clint smirked, dropping the knife to the ground and shook the Asgardian's hand.

"I haven't had a sword fight so challenging in a very long time," Clint praised. Hogun smirked, nodding his head in agreement with Clint's statement.

"You would never last with only fists," Thor accused, still bitter over his own loss. Clint shifted to look at him, his eyes dark in anger.

"Wanna try?" the archer challenged. He was seriously going to give Thor shit when he got out of this. Thor snarled at him before turning and walking away. Loki then moved toward Clint, a large smile plastered on his face. He nodded a hello as Hogun moved to follow after Thor. Around them, the crowd began to break up, chatting away in amazement. Baldr also came toward them.

"Impressive," Loki commended. Clint shrugged.

"When you train with super soldiers, a guy in a metal suit, and him, you tend to learn a thing or two," Clint laughed. Loki's smile shifted slightly, not liking how Clint slid around his complement. While it was true that Clint trained with those stronger than him, the archer was still a force to be reckoned with. Baldr laughed.

"I wish these were the real events. All Asgardians would view Midgardians in a better light," Baldr announced, patting Clint's back. The archer chuckled before suddenly jerking up straight. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Clint?" Loki asked. Silently, Clint stumbled forward. Loki caught the archer, looking over Clint's shoulder to see one of the knives that had been scattered about the field was embedded in Clint's left shoulder blade. The blade vanished into Clint's body till all that was left out was the hilt. "CLINT!"

* * *

 **I missed this by a day. But, for a very good reason. As those who have read my author notes, yesterday was the one year... I feel like this is the wrong word for this but 'Anniversary' of my son's passing. We still have yet to get an answer as to what happened but we hope that will change soon.**

 **In the meantime, Darius is doing well. Getting better about listening, unless you tell him to be quiet. Had a few issues but nothing too bad. Currently he is staying at the grandparents house for the weekend. Hoping he enjoys it and that hubby and I have the time to right ourselves after this tough weekend. Baby Jason is doing good. Got one tooth in and working on his second. Cranky a whole lot because of it but again, with so many parents around, he usually gets the right attention at the proper times.**

 **Well, I have an alert in my calendar for next Friday's post, so I should see you then for the final chapter of this story. The week after that, I'll release the next one rather than posting it the same day! But for now, enjoy!**


	24. Hela

CHAPTER 24 - Hela

"I fear there has been a complication," FRIDAY announced nearly a day after the ship left on it's mission. They still had two more days before arriving at Vormir. But one of the bigger events was that the ship had basically shut down, outside of the engines and navigation. Considering that none of the others knew how to fix it and air quickly became scarce, it was good that Tony had come. Even in the midst of a half panic attack, Tony had been able to quickly fix the ship and started on some minor upgrades with whatever was laying around. After that event, everyone (Tony included) apologized for how they behaved with Steve.

"Oh? What's wrong?" Steve called to the AI as he moved to the cockpit. Tony came up after him. Strange and Wanda were in the bunk room napping while Bucky and Natasha were training near the back hatch.

"We are veering away from out destination and I cannot put us back on course," FRIDAY reported. That got Bucky and Natasha to stop fighting, turning to look at the holoscreen that had literally been the representation of the AI.

"What? How?" Tony asked, rapidly moving files on the holoscreen to diagnose the issue. But he couldn't see anything wrong. Steve frowned.

"I am unsure as no systems are failing, yet we keep moving away from Vormir," FRIDAY answered.

"That doesn't sound good," Bucky muttered, moving up to stand by Steve's side. Natasha nodded, heading into the bunk room to wake the magic users.

"Tony, can you fix it?" Steve wondered. Tony didn't reply. He just kept checking over FRIDAY. "Tony?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Tony snapped, his voice sharp and dangerous. Steve winced as Bucky let out a soft growl. Sighing, Tony looked back at the duo. "I don't know. FRIDAY's right. Nothing in the system is wrong. Everything is working as it should be but... It's like we're being pulled off to the side."

"Because we are," Wanda informed, walking out of the bunk room and heading to the cockpit. Strange and Natasha followed behind her.

"What?" Tony retorted.

"Magic is pulling the ship of course," Strange reiterated.

"Do we know who's?" Steve inquired.

"Feels a bit like Hela, but I can't be certain. It's too distant," Wanda replied.

"If this keeps up, we will not have enough fuel to return," FRIDAY called. The ship went silent in surprise. No one had really mentioned what would happen if they ran out of fuel. In fact, none of the original team even knew what the ship ran off of. Steve looked to Tony. The genius focused on him.

"Your call Cap," Tony stated after swallowing his panic. Slowly, Steve looked at everyone. In return, they watched him. As their Captain, it was his choice. Even though he had made such a large mistake before and he blamed himself for much of the issues around the Avengers, Steve knew it was his choice. He sighed.

"FRIDAY, alter course to follow that pull," Steve ordered. There was nothing else they could really do. Hopefully, they'd be led to a planet that was still within fuel range of Earth's distance.

"Will do, Captain," FRIDAY responded.

"This is a bad idea," Strange pointed out. Bucky turned to him.

"You got a better idea?" the soldier snapped.

"FRIDAY, how close are we to Vormir?" Strange asked.

"We have only made it a quarter of the way." Strange softly cussed. Both Tony and Natasha turn to look at Steve, who just glared at them. Even now that was never going to disappear. But this time round, it felt soothing to a small deal. At this point the look was just part of the banter.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Bucky wondered.

"If we were closer, I'd be able to open a portal right to Vormir," Strange growled, really not liking Bucky's rage toward him. As the 'outcast' of the group, Strange had taken a lot of their shit and he was getting sick of it.

"Seriously? You could have just 'portaled' to Vormir?" Tony asked. Strange snorted. That was not what he had said.

"Didn't you hear me? I'm too far away," Strange hissed.

"And you couldn't, I don't know. PLANET HOP!" Tony screeched, pissed that he likely could have avoided the whole space ship travel. While it had been nice to learn about space travel from the Asgardians, Tony really could have done without much of this.

"Not all planets are safe to land on!" Strange proclaimed back. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Don't you have some sort of mystic shit to make it safe?" Tony shouted, moving forward himself.

"It doesn't work like that," Strange cried.

"Enough!" Steve demanded, moving between the duo. He looked back and forth between the two, making sure they actually were backing down. "We had a plan. There was no other way things could go."

"And now, we ain't even on that fucking path!" Tony snarled. "Rogers, this is fucked up."

"I KNOW!" Steve screamed, for once completely loosing his cool, a rare event for anyone to see. The ship went silent as Steve huffed, trying to calm himself down. "Look, no one wanted this. No one knew this was going to happen. Getting the other stone was a long shot. We all knew this."

"So, we go to Hela?" Wanda whispered. Steve looked to her. Wanda nodded. "I can tell now. It... It's her."

Their arrival on Niflheim was almost similar to the ship's arrival on Earth. Just, with less explosions. At first, none of them wanted to move. They hadn't expected to deal with Hela without the stone. Knowing Thor and Loki and _Hulk_ had failed really wasn't a moral booster for any of them. Slowly, the group made their decision and headed to the back of the ship. As the hatch lowered, Hela magically appeared in a flash of green. Fenris appeared next to her as well.

"The mighty Avengers," Hela cooed. "Have you come to offer me Asgard for your friend?"

"No, we came to threaten you for our friend," Tony calmly retorted, carefully not looking up at the starry sky above. Steve sighed. At least they hadn't made an actual plan or script on what to say. Bucky rolled his eyes, cause of course Tony would antagonize the enemy. Natasha's face went still, hiding her emotions. Wanda bit her lip, watching Hela closely for any sign of using magic. Strange growled lightly, glaring at the back of Tony's head.

"Ah, little witchling! Didn't you get enough last time?" Hela called, ignoring Tony. Wanda paused, leaving herself partly on the ship. Hela's eyes shifted to Strange. "Oh, aren't you fascinating."

"Hela," Strange greeted as if she wasn't a threat to any of them. Hela gave him a brilliant smile. Fenris snarled at the group but didn't move.

"You, I like," she told the sorcerer. Strange tensed but it wasn't fully outwardly noticeable.

"I'd find that flattering if you weren't trying to destroy part of the universe," Strange replied. Hela let out a boisterous laugh.

"Midgard seems to have better entertainment than any of the Realms. You people are just so stubborn," Hela said, her voice turning to a sneer as she spoke.

"Just let Barton and Loki go," Steve announced. Hela raised an eyebrow. "We don't need to fight."

"Oh? What do I get in return of giving them back?" Hela wondered. The group shifted, watching her carefully.

"A free conscious," Tony mumbled too low for her to hear. Fenris growled, making the genius pale. Beside him, Bucky bit his lip to stop the smile from forming. Natasha's lip twitched but otherwise she stayed impassive.

"You won't have us coming to bother you," Strange answered, waving his hands at the group. Hela snorted.

"You think you bother me?"

"I think it bothered you that Loki mentioned Clint was fighting. I think you only took him cause he was a threat," Wanda mentioned, getting braver thanks to Strange and Tony actively arguing with Hela. Hela's eyes narrowed, a snarl starting to form.

"Don't test me witchling. I beat Loki before, I wasn't worried about him at all," Hela growled. Wanda raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"But you're worried about Clint's hard headiness," Natasha continued, noting that Hela hadn't mentioned the archer. "He too stubborn to stay under lock and key?"

"You are meddling in affairs far greater than your own. Go home and tell Thor he will get his brother and friend back _only_ if he gives up Asgard," Hela snarled, Fenris adding in her own growl.

"And if we don't?" Tony asked, too used to railing people up. Hela's eyes narrowed.

"I'll take your souls as well and your archer's will be sent to oblivion," Hela told him, taking the stone out of whatever magical pocket she had it in. It flashed a bright orange, showing a quick glimpse of Clint sword fighting someone. Hela didn't seem to notice at all. But Wanda and Strange did. Wanda stepped off the ship to stand by the sorcerer. "Run along now, before I change my mind."

"NOW!" Strange shouted, he and Wanda quickly using their magic to snatch the stone away from Hela. The goddess gave an outraged cry before flicking her wrist, sending Strange, Steve and Bucky off to the left. Without Strange's help, Wanda couldn't stop Hela from taking the stone back again. But as the stone got halfway there, gun shots started peppering Hela's body. Growling, Hela looked to see Natasha with two guns, double shooting her. Hela snapped her magic out, heating the guns till Natasha dropped them with a cry of pain. Before the goddess could refocus on Wanda, she got punched in the jaw hard enough to stumble one step. Fenris let out a loud cry of pain as she got attacked as well.

"ENOUGH!" Hela screeched, sending her magic flying in all directions. It tossed the Avengers onto the ground, rocking their ship as it went. With neither Strange or Wanda focusing on the stone, Hela got it back. "YOU ARE ALL WEAK!"

"We won't stop, not until we have them back," Steve informed as the group slowly got to their feet. Hela snorted, her face contorted in anger.

"You will stop," she warned, lifting the stone up to aim at the group. They all tensed when suddenly green magic ripped out from the stone. It tossed everyone, including Hela, away. When the dust settled, Clint, Loki and a near twin of Thor were kneeling on the ground.

"CLINT!" Steve, Tony and Natasha cried. That got the trio to look up, surprised. Out of all of them, Clint recovered first, quickly getting to his feet. Loki was next, shifting to block everyone from Hela.

"NO!" Hela roared, jumping to her feet. Instantly, Loki, Strange, Wanda and the Thor twin all blasted her with magic. Clint nabbed the orange stone and stumbled back. "I WILL HAVE ASGARD!"

"You missed your turn," Loki hissed, sending a stronger bolt of magic at his sister. Fenris jumped forward but Thor's twin shifted his blast of magic onto the wolf. It's power sent Fenris flying off into the distance.

"Hela, you are judged and will be sent to the darkest pit of Hel," Thor twin growled.

"Baldr!" Clint called, tossing the stone to him. 'Baldr' snatched it up and in a flash, Hela was gone. For a moment, everyone just stood there, breathing. When nothing else happened, Tony let out a disbelieving laugh. Then Bucky did. Followed by Clint and Wanda together.

"That's it?" Steve wondered. Baldr turned to look at the group.

"Yes. That's it," he informed. "Hela was killed on Asgard. Her soul had been judged before coming but, I hadn't been ready for her appearance. She took me by surprise, taking the stone before I could banish her to her proper place."

"Uh, who are you?" Tony asked.

"I am Baldr Odinson, current King of Niflheim," Baldr greeted.

"Odinson?" Natasha repeated.

"This is my younger brother," Loki agreed, moving to stand by the other Asgardian. Clint shifted, standing between the two groups.

"Younger..." Tony started. "Well, ain't they all coming out of the woodwork."

"Tony," Steve grumbled. Baldr twitched his head to the side, a small smirk on his face. Loki snorted, looking over at Tony. It was true to a small degree. Thor hadn't mentioned any siblings other than the trickster, course Thor didn't know about Hela but to the group, it was like they just kept coming.

"Tony," Clint chuckled. It felt like years since he had last seen the group. Tony looked quickly to the archer before smiling. But then Baldr tilted his head as if listening to something far behind him.

"You all must return before Niflheim demands you stay," Baldr told the group, refocusing on them. Clint stiffened, looking his friends over. Steve tensed, Tony paled, Natasha's lip tightened, Wanda glanced at Loki in surprise and Strange quirked an eyebrow.

"A planet can claim our souls?" Bucky mumbled, looking around. He was really beginning to wish he hadn't decided to unfreeze back in Wakanda. Being in cryo wasn't as messed up as all this.

"Living mortals are not supposed to stay on Niflheim for extended periods of time. You are all reaching your limit," Baldr stated, looking them over.

"Mystic, your magic will reach Midgard from here. Open your portal," Loki called, focusing on Strange. With a small frown but knowing this was important, Strange turned off to the side and started to create his portal. This one, with such a large distance to travel was going to require a large amount of time to do.

"What about Clint?" Natasha snapped, moving to get closer to the archer. Baldr glanced over at Clint who was silently looking everyone over. Clint figured he was dead. This would be the last time he'd see any of them.

"What the stone took, it can return," Baldr replied. Loki and Clint only had a second to look to the god before he aimed the Soul stone at them. In a brilliant flash, they were gone. The group (minus Strange) all cried out in surprise. Baldr smiled at them, holding his free hand out in peace. "They are back home, in their bodies. All is set right."

"We need to go, I don't know how long I can hold this," Strange called, his portal fully formed. On the other side was clearly the lobby of the Sanctum. Tony was the first one through, wanting to get back to Earth and his Iron Man armor as fast as possible. Having already spent a good deal of time on Niflheim before, Wanda went next.

"You're sure?" Natasha questioned. Baldr nodded. Closing her eyes in relief, she headed through as well.

"Thank you," Steve told the god with a nod. Baldr smiled.

"You are strong souls. Work together and you can get through anything," Baldr half predicted, half warned. Steve frowned but before he could ask, Bucky dragged him through the portal with Strange only a second behind. Once through, the trio collapsed onto the floor, the portal making their trip a bit more unstable than the others.

"Steve, hey, you guys okay?" Tony wondered, coming over to help them get to their feet. Natasha shifted as well even as Steve nodded his head.

"Clint," Bucky muttered, his gaze aimed to the top of the stairwell where Clint and Loki stood side by side. Behind them stood Thor and Wong. Thor had a gigantic smile on his face and he seemed almost ready to engulf his brother and friend into a hug. Ignoring it, Clint waved a hand at the group.

"Hey."

* * *

 **And that is the end to this story! Wait... This is the end... Oh crap... I still have to edit this a second time to flow better with my series before I post the next story! _ I hopefully should get it done... Hopefully.**

 **Anywho, Darius had spent most of the week being really good. Wednesday, I did something to my back and was in pain all day so hubby slept with him on that night, then Thursday and had to do it again Friday because Darius had a nightmare and I didn't want him coming in our bed hurting my back all over again. But Friday morning hit... And dear lord if he wasn't highly annoying! Constantly in my face repeatedly asking questions that I've already said no too. Giving me attitude, being too loud and bothering Baby Jason. Ugh. Hubby came home from work, and you could tell he didn't really believe my story of how Darius was being, then like ten minutes later he looked at me and was like 'how have you handled this all day?' Yup. Baby Jason has seemed to have gotten sick this week. His father isn't doing much better... Got him to get checked out and they couldn't find anything but gave him meds. It almost seems to have made it better but not well enough. Hopefully by the time he finishes his meds it will be fixed. As for Baby Jason, he vomited once that I am aware of and has a small bump where he had gotten his flu shot. No redness around the shot, just a tiny bump. Otherwise, he's been giving his parents a hard time sleeping.**

 **So, next week (hopefully Friday) I will be posting the next story called _After This, Never Trust a Rock_. I'll post it even if I didn't get the correct edits in it. If I have to start editing it while it's being posted, I continue posting the older version and updating the other one. Also, today _After Loki_ will be finished being posted on Archive of Our Own. I may be posting the first chapter of _Clint is What_ but I don't know yet. So, if you'd like, you can go look into that. _Clint is What_ has been majorly edited so if you are rereading the series, you'll be surprised with the changes. Until then, I'll see you next week!**


End file.
